The Acute Effect of a Plyometric Stimulus on Jump Performance in Professional Rugby Players

Abstract

Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is the elevation of motor performance to a higher level in response to a conditioning stimulus. Extensive research exists examining the PAP effect after a heavy resistance exercise. However, there is limited research examining the PAP effect after a plyometric stimulus. This study was designed to examine whether a plyometric stimulus could produce a PAP effect comparable to that typically reported with a heavy resistance protocol. Importantly, it was hypothesized that the PAP effect would exist without the same levels of acute fatigue resulting from a heavy stimulus, thus allowing improvement in performance within a short rest interval range. Twenty professional rugby players were recruited for the study. Subjects performed 2 countermovement jumps (CMJs) at baseline and at 1, 3, and 5 minutes after a plyometric stimulus consisting of 40 jumps. Two separate 1-way repeated-measures analyses of variance were conducted to compare the dependent variables CMJ height and peak force at the 4 time points. Results of the Bonferroni adjusted pairwise comparisons indicated that jump height and peak force before plyometric exercises were significantly lower than all other time points (p < 0.01). The main finding of this study indicates that a series of plyometric exercises causes a significant acute enhancement in CMJ height (p < 0.01) and peak force (p < 0.01) throughout the rest interval range of 1-5 minutes. The plyometric series induced an improvement in CMJ height comparable to that reported elsewhere after a heavy lifting stimulus but without the need for a prolonged rest interval. Performing repeated series of plyometric jumps appears to be an efficient method of taking advantage of the PAP phenomenon, thus possibly eliminating the need for a complex training protocol.

Postactivation Potentiation of Sprint Acceleration Performance Using Plyometric Exercise

“…This is an important finding, as it strengthens the arguments made in previous studies where comparisons were made solely against baseline performance when a control condition wasn't used (e.g. 7,8,[25][26][27][35][36][37]. At least for the 20 m tests (that included a 10 m split) used in this study, repeated tests at multiple time-points do not significantly affect the subsequent performance tests, as there was no main effect of time in C. Considering that two of the significant between-condition comparisons relative to C (increase in 10 m velocity with WP at 4 min and decrease in 20 m velocity with WP immediately post preload stimulus - Figures 1 and 2) were not statistically significant when within-condition comparisons against baseline were made is most likely a reflection of the conservative Bonferroni adjustment used (i.e., 6 comparisons between 7 time-points).…”

“…In order to control for the possible covariate of eliciting additive effects (either fatiguing or potentiating) from repeated maximal performance efforts performed postpreload stimulus, a full control condition which included the repeated performance tests while omitting a preload stimulus was added to the research design; a factor which remains unknown in previous studies that have compared to a baseline trial alone (e.g. 7,8,[25][26][27][35][36][37]. Therefore, participants completed three experimental trials involving a standardised warm-up and then a baseline 20 m sprint assessment, followed by either a walking control (C) condition or a preload stimulus of 3 sets of 10 plyometric bounds with resistances of body mass only (P condition) or with an additional load of 10% body mass (WP condition; a load previously identified to improve performance following plyometric activity: 10,32).…”

“…However, PAP effects have been attributed to the maximal activation of involved musculature. Prior research has demonstrated that PAP can be induced using maximal isometric contractions (17,19,28), heavy resistance exercises, such as the back squat and bench press (7,8,25,26), and plyometric activities (35). Speculatively, it seems that the maximal activation of the musculature is the key component in inducing PAP.…”

Theoretical Background and Practical Applications of the Physiological Mechanism of Post-Activation Potentiation

“…Previous studies have used conditioning contractions targeting to enhance subsequent performance, especially in athletes. More particularly, they demonstrate an increase in performance for movements that demand power after several different conditioning stimuli such as a maximum isometric voluntary contraction (Tillin & Bishop, 2009), high intensity resistance training bouts (Tillin & Bishop, 2009), plyometrics (Tobin & Delahunt, 2014) or whole body vibration (Avelar et al, 2014). The positive effect of PAP was observed mainly in rate of force development, jump height and sprint time, but not in strength (Tillin & Bishop, 2009).…”

Back Squat Potentiates Both Vertical and Horizontal Jump Performance in Collegiate Ice Hockey Players

“…This phenomenon, termed post activation potentiation (PAP), is maximized by performing an explosive movement task subsequent to a heavily loaded lift that shares a similar movement pattern (Golas, Maszczyk, Zajac, Mikolajec and Stastny, 2016). PAP is influenced by a combination of factors such as volume and intensity, intraset and intertask rest intervals, participant characteristics and the type of exercise performed (Hodgson, Docherty and Robbins, 2005, Seitz, Mina and Haff, 2016, Tillin and Bishop, 2009, Tobin and Delahunt, 2014. Used effectively in a training program, PAP may enhance sensitivity to power training such as plyometrics Hodgson, 2007, Tillin andBishop, 2009).…”