In the January issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, there is a study published looking at the impact of training volume on increases in back squat strength. Generally I enjoy reading studies about training volume because there is such an emotion-driven debate about this with all schools of thought. One school (the high intensity group) argues passionately for the one-set-to-failure approach to training. Do one set of each exercise to muscular failure, period. They use deceased bodybuilder Mike Mentzer as proof that this approach works. At the other end of the spectrum are the periodization folks.
The reality is that both approaches work, they just work for different populations and for different goals. For example, one set is a great way for the unconditioned to begin training and it’s appropriate for a recovery phase of training. Periodization (and its spin-offs) are great for the athletic population. Most people fall somewhere in the middle.
Enter the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, which has a study by Robbins et al entitled “The effect of training volume on lower-body strength.” As I was reading this study, I thought it looked awefully familiar. Turns out that the exact same authors published the exact same study, with the same results, in the December issue of the European Journal of Applied Physiology (I even wrote about it here: http://wp.me/pZf7K-6G ). The Applied Physiology article is actually more complete because it talks about some of the participants being non-responders to training (with the bulk of them being in the lower training volume groups) which may have biased the results.
I don’t expect that the editors of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research would have known about the other publication, after all they were probably submitted simultaneously. I’m also not sure about the protocol with this, after all the write ups are different enough to have two different journal articles even though the data, procedures, subjects, results, and conclusions are the same. This does serve as a caution in the publish-or-perish world of academia with some individuals essentially getting as many papers as possible with the same study.
Robbins, D.W., Marshall, P.W.M., and McEwen, M. The effect of training volume on lower-body strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(1), 34-39, 2012.
Marshall, P.W.M., McEwen, M., and Robbins, D.W. (2011). Strength and neuromuscular adaptation following one, four, and eight sets of high intensity resistance exercise in trained males. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 111: 3007-3016.
