Background: To determine the effect of resistance training volume on physical and perceptual outcomes of breast cancer survivors submitted to a combined training program.
Design: Randomized single-blinded study.
Methods: Nineteen breast cancer survivor women were randomized to a single-set (SS) or a multiple-set (MS) group. Both groups completed an 8-week combined training intervention in which the SS and MS groups performed 1 and 3 sets per resistance exercise, respectively. The following outcomes were assessed preintervention and postintervention: maximal knee extension dynamic strength (1-repetition maximum), quadriceps muscle thickness, peak oxygen uptake, time to exhaustion, cancer-related fatigue, and quality of life.
Results: Both interventions increased knee extension 1-repetition maximum (SS: 29.8% [37.5%]; MS: 19.3% [11.8%]), quadriceps muscle thickness (9.4% [4.1%]; 8.9% [5.9%]), and quality of life (4.3% [6.3%]; 7.9% [9.0%]), with no difference between the groups. However, only MS improved cancer-related fatigue (-2.1% [1.7%]) and time to exhaustion (21.3% [14.9%]), whereas peak oxygen uptake remained unchanged in both groups.
Conclusions: Cancer-related fatigue and time to exhaustion, improved only in the MS group after the intervention. On the other hand, similar knee extension 1-repetition maximum, quadriceps muscle thickness, and quality of life improvements were observed in breast cancer survivors irrespective of the resistance training volume performed.
Keywords: breast neoplasms; cancer-related fatigue; combined training; quality of life.