Inter-Set Foam Rolling of the Latissimus Dorsi Acutely Increases Repetitions in Lat Pull-Down Exercise without Affecting RPE

Foam rolling is widely used in fitness, sports, rehabilitation, and injury prevention. However,
there are limited data available on the effect of foam rolling techniques on the upper limbs. The
aim of this investigation is to assess the effects of foam rolling the latissimus dorsi area during the rest
period between two consecutive lat pull-down exercise (LPDE) sets. Seventeen resistance training
experienced volunteer male subjects (25.8 ± 3.4 years; 180.3 ± 9.0 cm; 79.7 ± 9.9 kg) participated in
this research. Each subject performed 2 training sessions of LPDE in a random order, separated by
one week. Each session consisted of 2 sets of maximum repetitions using 85% of their one-repetition
maximum (1RM), with a 7 min rest period between sets. The rest period condition between sets was
different in the 2 sessions: passive rest (Pr) or foam rolling the latissimus dorsi muscle bilaterally for
3 sets of 45 s (FRr). The following variables were assessed for each LPDE set: number of repetitions
(REPS), average excursion per repetition in millimeters (EXC), average power of the set in watts (AP)
and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Pr did not show any significant change between the first
and the second LPDE set for REPS, EXC, and AP. However, there was a significant increase for RPE
(8.4 ± 0.5 vs. 8.9 ± 0.5 a.u., p = 0.003) between the two sets. FRr resulted in an increase for REPS
(7.1 ± 1.5 vs. 8.2 ± 1.3, p < 0.001) and AP (304.6 ± 61.5 W vs. 318.8 ± 60.8 W, p = 0.034) between
the first and the second LPDE sets, but no changes were observed for EXC and RPE. The use of
foam rolling techniques on the latissimus dorsi area during the complete rest period between sets in
LPDE at 85% 1RM appears to improve the number of repetitions and the movement power without
affecting the RPE during the second set.