PONE-D-23-40875Resistance training leading to repetition failure increases muscle strength and size, but not power-generation capacity in judo athletes.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Nakatani,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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ACADEMIC EDITOR: Dear Authors,one expert in the field reviewed your manuscript retrieving several issues you should address during the revision process. Please submit your revised manuscript by May 24 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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Academic Editor

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: In this study neuromuscular adaptations to three 6-week elbow flexor training programs differing in intensity of load and muscular failure (30% 1RM leading to failure, 30% 1RM not lading to failure, and 80% 1RM performed to failure) were contrasted in a small sample of judo athletes. I have the following concerns about this manuscript:

1. Sample size of each group is very small (between 6 and 10)

2. The authis must provide a detailed description of all the procedures.

3. Statistical analysis should be improved (see specific comments)

4. Discussion section is too long, being similar to a narrative review. In my opinion it should be rewritten to be focused on the main findings of the results.

SPECIFIC COMMENTS (L= Line)

L50. I´d suggest using the term heavy-load and light-load instead heavier/lighter-load.

L61-65. This statement is not true. There are several studies that show how RT not leading to muscular failure optimizes power gains.

L85-86. The authors should reword this sentence.

L102-107.The wording of this paragraph is confusing to me. I would suggest reviewing it. On the other hand, what do you mean by ballistic? Throwing the load? At maximum voluntary velocity? Wasn´t maximal intended velocity performed with 80% 1RM load?

L 110. This period corresponds to COVID-19 pandemic breakdown, doesn´t it? Were the participants following their usual training program? On the other hand, the sample size is quite limited and should be commented a s a limitation.

L112-116. Please specify the description of the sample: did they perform resistance training? In this case, what was training frequency? Did they include the tested exercise in their training program?

L147. Please, replace are by were.

L 147150. It is strange that the athletes were able to maintain this pace until muscular failure. It is well known that velocity decreases with fatigue, so it is very strange to perform repetitions until muscular failure without losing velocity. Why RFHT was not performed to the maximum intended velocity? How could this have affected your results?

See for example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9613575/; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8444715/

L152-153. A high inter-subject variability exits regarding the maximum number of repetitions performed with and specific relative load, therefore 20 repetitions might have entailed different level of effort between participants. Did you test maximum number of repetitions with this load? If this was not the case, you should discuss this point as a limitation of your study.

L163-165. I do not understand this point. This a surrogate estimation of mechanical impulse, isn´t it? On the other hand, RT with light loads was performed at maximum intended velocity, therefore time under tension varied throughout each set.

L249. How did you obtain angular velocity?

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

L265. You had three groups and therefore one-way ANOVA should also be used for baseline measurements?

L270-271. Sample size is really small, and therefore the use of non-parametric statistic should be recommended. Did you test normality and homocedasticity of your variables?

L 275. Please, report 95% confidence intervals for Hedge´s g.

L282-285. This result is trivial given the experimental design. On the other hand it highlights that differences or lack of differences may be caused by differences in volume instead of differences in loads. In my opinion this is the main limitation of this study since the independent variable is not well controlled.

L290-292. Please note that figure 3A sems to show simple contrasts that are not supported on significant interactions. Pairwise comparisons that are not based on significant interaction should be removed throughout the manuscript. In this regard, discussion and conclusions must be properly adapted.

L312-314. Was there a tendency or a significant main effect of time? Please, clarify this point.

Table 3. Units of slope should be reported

DISCUSSION

Discussion is too long considering your findings: statistically speaking, the lack of interaction suggest that training conditions induced similar adaptations, despite the differences in volume. In my opinion the discussion must be rewritten and focused on this point. Finally, the interpretation of your results from the perspective of differences in volume should not be limited to conclusions.

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Reviewer #1: No

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PONE-D-23-40875R1Resistance training leading to repetition failure increases muscle strength and size, but not power-generation capacity in judo athletes.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Nakatani,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

==============================

ACADEMIC EDITOR: Dear Authors,one expert in the field reviewed your manuscript detecting some minor issues you should consider while revising your study. Please submit your revised manuscript by Jul 25 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Emiliano Cè

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors have correctly addressed most of my previous comments. Nevertheless, there are still a few aspects that should be improved:

Lines 64-65: “A few studies have examined the effect of resistance training leading to repetition failure on power generating capacity in athletes.” Please provide some references to support this statement.

Line 106: Please replace "was" with "is." On the other hand, was the exercise with heavy load performed at submaximal velocity? Please clarify this. Intended velocity is a key point for specific adaptations, and thus, the authors should consider this aspect in the discussion section.

Line 342 (Power analysis): This is an "observed" power analysis. On the other hand, the specific test for which you performed this analysis is not reported. It seems that it was calculated for a repeated measures design, not for a between-within interaction. How many participants in each group would be needed to achieve a statistical power of 0.8 for detecting a medium effect size in the interaction? Provide a detailed description of this power calculation and report the software that you used.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Resistance training leading to repetition failure increases muscle strength and size, but not power-generation capacity in judo athletes.

PONE-D-23-40875R2

Dear Dr. Nakatani,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Emiliano Cè

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

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