Performance Effects of Repetition Specific Gluteal Activation Protocols on Acceleration in Male Rugby Union Players

Abstract

Warm-up protocols have the potential to cause an acute enhancement of dynamic sprinting performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of three repetition specific gluteal activation warm-up protocols on acceleration performance in male rugby union players. Forty male academy rugby union players were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups (control, 5, 10 or 15 repetition gluteal activation group) and performed 10 m sprints at baseline and 30 s, 2, 4, 6 and 8 min after their specific intervention protocol. Five and ten meter sprint times were the dependent variable and dual-beam timing gates were used to record all sprint times. Repeated measures analysis of variance found no significant improvement in 5 and 10 m sprint times between baseline and post warm-up scores (p ≥ 0.05) for all groups. There were no reported significant differences between groups at any of the rest interval time points (p ≥ 0.05). However, when individual responses to the warm-up protocols were analyzed, the 15 repetition gluteal activation group had faster 10 m times post-intervention and this improvement was significant (p = 0.021). These results would indicate that there is no specific rest interval for any of the gluteal interventions that results in a potentiation effect on acceleration performance. However, the individual response analysis would seem to indicate that a 15 repetition gluteal activation warm-up protocol has a potentiating effect on acceleration performance provided that the rest interval is adequately and individually determined.

Effect of a gluteal activation warm-up on explosive exercise performance

“…In contrast with some of the previous literature, [11][12][13] this study did not demonstrate any change in the performance outcome after activation warm-up. One reason for this may be that previous authors have been somewhat overeager to support the efficacy (and use) of gluteal activation warm-ups and have overstated the meaning of their results.…”

“…Similarly, Comyns and colleagues 12 reported that a gluteal warm-up can enhance force production based on changes in the ground reaction force–time curve, despite the fact that jump performance (height) was impaired for all of their post-warm-up jumps. The same group also suggested that a gluteal activation protocol can improve acceleration performance 13 but again this was based on a small, significant effect size (a difference in 10 m sprint time of 0.02 s; d≈0.2, p=0.021). What is particularly surprising in all of this previous literature is the focus on investigating whether the performance outcome is improved, especially when the clinical rationale for including gluteal activation exercises in an athlete’s programme is often more focused around improving movement quality.…”

“…Seventeen elite male Premiership rugby union players took part in this study (previous research that has found significant differences in performance outcome after a gluteal activation warm-up had group sizes between 10 and 22 subjects [11][12][13] ). There were no differences between the complete cohort and the subcohort who were analysed using FreeBody (table 1).…”

“…This is in part because the glutes are one of the main contributors to force production in lower limb extension, [2][3][4] and in part because weakness or altered activity of the glutes is sometimes implicated in a range of musculoskeletal complaints including lower back pain 5 6 and anterior knee pain. [7][8][9][10] A number of previous groups have investigated the effect of therapeutic gluteal activation exercise on athletic performance both acutely [11][12][13][14] and over a short training period. 15 The results of this research have been equivocal however; some authors reported modest increases in performance outcome, [11][12][13] whereas others found no difference.…”

“…[7][8][9][10] A number of previous groups have investigated the effect of therapeutic gluteal activation exercise on athletic performance both acutely [11][12][13][14] and over a short training period. 15 The results of this research have been equivocal however; some authors reported modest increases in performance outcome, [11][12][13] whereas others found no difference. 14 15 One reason for these equivocal results is that the majority of the previous research has only quantified performance outcome (eg, height jumped, power output) and has not sought to evaluate changes in kinematics, electromyography (EMG) or muscular forces.…”