title: The National Football League-225 Bench Press Test and the Size-Weight Illusion.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to test reports that size and arrangement manipulations of weight plates (i.e., inducing a size-weight illusion [SWI]) effect athletic weightlifting performance. The participants were 72 experienced, weight-trained collegiate American football players. Across three weeks, each athlete performed three different repetitions-to-fatigue bench press tests (NFL-225, SWI-225, and SWI-215). A multiple regression revealed a positive association between participants' strength relative to the test load and repetitions for NFL-225 and SWI-215, but no association with SWI-225. To explore these results, players were ranked into quartiles based on their one-repetition maximum relative to 102.27 kg (225 lb), and a 3 × 4 repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted. The primary finding was a significant Test Condition × Quartile interaction ( p = .004). Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons revealed that Quartile 4 (those with lowest strength relative to test load) completed more repetitions for SWI-225 compared with NFL-225 ( p = .049). These results suggest that alternate weight plate arrangements may be beneficial for those whose bench press load is near the lifter's one-repetition maximum. However, variations of the SWI do not appear to affect the performance of repetitions-to-fatigue bench press tests for the majority of collegiate American football players.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Luebbers
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buckingham
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Butler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000379:methods*; D012916:Soccer; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: athlete; muscular endurance; muscular strength; performance testing; visual perception