Postactivation potentiation improves jumps performance in children ages 6 to 8 years old

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of postactivation potentiation (PAP) in vertical and horizontal jump performance in pre-pubertal children. Material and method: One hundred and nineteen children (65 girls and 54 boys; 6.8 ± 0.7 years old; 124.5 ± 6.4 cm; 25.2 ± 5.1 kg) participated in this study. This was a transversal cross-sectional study which incorporated a within-subjects repeatedmeasures design, where participants completed all protocols. The experimental procedure required four total testing, separated by one week, using a counterbalanced. This study investigated jumping performance associated with weighted jumps, lowload vertical jumps, and horizontal jumps. During two sessions the participants performed vertical jumps with and without PAP, the other two sessions the same procedures were performed for horizontal jumps. The PAP protocol consisted of one set of five weighted countermovement jumps with low-load (10% of body mass) and a rest interval of four minutes prior to the jump tests. Paired t-tests were used between conditions (PAP and control) in the vertical jump and horizontal jump test. In addition, Cohen’s d effect size and 95% confidence interval was used. Results: Significant jump height was observed in the vertical jump in the PAP condition compared to the control condition (p = 0.007). Similar results were observed for the horizontal jump tests, with significant longer distance observed in the PAP condition (p = 0.036). Conclusions: Pre-pubertal children can benefit from the effects of PAP in vertical and horizontal jumping performance when preceded by low-load ballistic movements. A protocol implementing low-loads, determined by a relative percentage of body mass is effective to promote PAP for young children.