Superset versus compound set resistance exercise: comparing acute hormonal, lactate and perceived exertion responses in active men

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to compare the acute hormonal responses and perceived exertion after performing super-set vs compound set resistance exercise in active males. In this study, 10 volunteer male university students (with an average age of 23.4 ± 2.3 years; 78 ± 10 kg; 176 ± 6 cm) participated in this study. After 10 repetition maximum (10RM) test in the movements, each participant performed randomly two sessions consist of super-set and compound set resistance exercise (crossover design) with 4 sets for each movement with 85-90% of 10RM and 90 seconds rest between sets, with 5 days apart between exercise sessions. The testosterone (T), cortisol (C), the testosterone/cortisol ratio (T/C) and blood lactate (LA) levels were measured before, immediately, 15 and 30 minutes after the exercise protocols. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) was recorded at the end of each set for both modes of resistance exercise in each session. In general, the results showed almost similar responses and a significant differences in both the super-set and compound set resistance exercise protocols at the time points for T concentrations, T/C ratio, LA levels and RPE ( ). In general, both protocols led to an increase in T and the ratio of T/C immediately after exercise, followed by a decrease in 30 min after exercise ( ). Also, LA levels and RPE increased significantly during exercise sets compared to pre-exercise levels ( ). The findings show that both super-set and compound set resistance exercise methods produce similar acute hormonal, metabolic and perceived responses in active men.