Cycling Performance Enhancement After Drop Jumps May Be Attributed to Postactivation Potentiation and Increased Anaerobic Capacity

Abstract

de Poli, RAB, Boullosa, DA, Malta, ES, Behm, D, Lopes, VHF, Barbieri, FA, and Zagatto, AM. Cycling performance enhancement after drop jumps may be attributed to postactivation potentiation and increased anaerobic capacity. J Strength Cond Res 34(9): 2465–2475, 2020—The study aimed to investigate the effects of drop jumps (DJs) on supramaximal cycling performance, anaerobic capacity (AC), electromyography, and fatigue. Thirty-eight recreational cyclists participated into 3 independent studies. In study 1 (n = 14), neuromuscular fatigue was assessed with the twitch interpolation technique. In study 2 (n = 16), the AC and metabolic contributions were measured with the maximal accumulated oxygen deficit method and the sum of the glycolytic and phosphagen pathways. In study 3 (n = 8), postactivation potentiation (PAP) induced by repeated DJs was evaluated. The DJ protocol was effective for significantly improving cycling performance by +9.8 and +7.4% in studies 1 and 2, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). No differences were observed in electromyography between conditions (p = 0.70); however, the force evoked by a doublet at low (10 Hz) and high frequencies (100 Hz) declined for control (−16.4 and −23.9%) and DJ protocols (−18.6 and −26.9%) (p < 0.01). Force decline was greater in the DJ condition (p < 0.03). Anaerobic capacity and glycolytic pathway contributions were +7.7 and +9.1% higher after DJ protocol (p = 0.01). Peak force during maximal voluntary contraction (+5.6%) and doublet evoked force at 100 Hz (+5.0%) were higher after DJs. The DJ protocol induced PAP, improved supramaximal cycling performance, and increased AC despite higher peripheral fatigue.

Impacts of high‐intensity exercise on the metabolomics profile of human skeletal muscle tissue

“…We add that oxidative metabolism continues to dominate ATP provision during exercise at an intensity >100% of MAP and this is supported by fat metabolism (probably intramuscular triacylglycerol) via the ß‐oxidation pathway. This high oxidative energetic contribution is similar to that reported by de Poli 36 during exercise at the same relative intensity (i.e., 115% of maximal aerobic power and 63% of oxidative contribution).…”

Post-activation performance enhancement strategies in sport: a brief review for practitioners

“…< 5 minutes) potentiation responses have also been observed in some studies with both resistance [16,17] and ballistic [13] exercises. More importantly, several studies have suggested the necessity of individualized approaches as the generalization of findings is often not valid for individual responses in the same studies [6,[16][17][18]. In this regard, if we consider our recent taxonomy proposal [7], which highlights the necessity of better identifying the main factors of PAPE as CA, the verification test, and population, it may be suggested that other potential moderators (e.g.…”

“…In this respect, it is still to be determined if more specific stimuli for endurance athletes (e.g. prolonged submaximal exercise) [51] would elicit greater PAPE than highintensity brief efforts [6,32,50] or a combination of both stimuli [41]. Importantly, this may be related to the physiological profile of the athletes (e.g.…”

“…Meanwhile, PAP would refer to force increases during twitch verification tests. In this regard, it is common to simultaneously identify PAP and PAPE after the same CAs [2,6]. Therefore, as we will present only studies with athletes in sport settings, PAPE is the correct term ( Figure 1).…”

“…The main mechanism related to potentiation has been suggested to be the phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain of myosin, a muscle memory mechanism which increases the sensitivity to Ca 2+ , thus favouring transient increments in peak force and rate of force development [10]. However, several other mechanisms have been proposed [1,4,6,11]. As the scope of this review is focused on the practical aspects of PAPE, we will present and discuss the PAPE factors and their main moderators, the applications of PAPE protocols, and the usefulness of the new taxonomy to better identify efficient PAPE protocols to be applied in the sporting field for different purposes.…”