The Effects of Resisted Post-Activation Sprint Performance Enhancement in Elite Female Sprinters

Abstract

Considering the effectiveness of resisted sprint training, and the acute enhancement of sprinting performance through locomotor post-activation performance enhancement, the main objective of the research was to determine the acute effects of resisted activation with loads of 5, 10, and 15% body mass on sprint and flying start sprint performance in elite female sprinters using resisted drag technology system. Ten elite female sprinters (age: 23.2 ± 5.4 years, body mass: 54.2 ± 6.1 kg, height: 167.4 ± 7.3 cm, personal best for 100 m: 12.05 ± 0.56 s, and for 400 m: 53.17 ± 2.76 s) performed two unresisted 20-m sprints (from a crouched and flying start) before and after a single resisted sprint loaded with 5, 10, or 15% body mass to verify the effectiveness of the activation stimulus. Compared with pre-activation, Friedman tests showed that peak velocity increased by 1.6 ± 2.2% [effect size (ES) = 0.66], 2.3 ± 1.5% (ES = 1.33), and 0.2 ± 1% (ES = 0.09), as well as peak force by 2.8 ± 2.1% (ES = 0.49), 3.5 ± 2.3% (ES = 1), and 0.5 ± 2.4% (ES = 0.14), concomitant with a significant decreased in sprint time by −0.5 ± 1.2% (ES = −0.07), −2.5 ± 1.3% (ES = −0.64), and −1 ± 1.4% (ES = −0.36) for the 5, 10, and 15% body mass post-activation, respectively (p < 0.001; for all). Furthermore, the ANOVA showed that peak power increased by 2.9 ± 2.3% (ES = 0.61), 3.8 ± 2.2% (ES = 1.05), and 2 ± 7.1% (ES = 0.22) for the 5, 10, and 15% body mass resisted-conditioning activity, respectively, with no difference between the three conditions (p = 0.003 main effect time, no interaction). Moreover, compared with the 5 and 15% body mass trials [−1.5 ± 2% (ES = −0.44), −0.8 ± 0.8% (ES = −0.44), respectively], the ANOVA showed that flying start sprint time significantly decreased by −4.3 ± 1.1% (ES = −1.25) (p < 0.001, interaction effect) after a 10% body mass resisted-conditioning activity. The results of this study indicated that resisted sprints acutely enhance sprint performance; however, their effectiveness depends on the applied load. A single resisted sprint using 10% body mass is effective at inducing a potentiating effect on subsequent 20-m flying start sprint performance in elite female sprinters. Therefore, keeping in mind the optimal load, it is recommended to perform resisted sprints as a conditioning activation when seeking to acutely enhance 20-m flying start sprint performance in these athletes.

The impact of resistance exercise range of motion on the magnitude of upper-body post-activation performance enhancement

“…Various upper and lower body exercises have been examined as a stimulus to induce PAPE [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. These studies consistently indicate that the key variables of effective PAPE include volume, intensity, and the restinterval between the CA and subsequent explosive task [15].…”

Enhancement of Countermovement Jump Performance Using a Heavy Load with Velocity-Loss Repetition Control in Female Volleyball Players

“…In recent years, many studies have been undertaken to determine the optimal parameters of CA that are conducive to reaching peak performance. This concerned the determination of the optimal type of exercise used for CA [ 3 , 4 ], optimal intensity and volume [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ], as well as rest intervals [ 9 ]. Investigations indicated that PAPE was obtained over a wide range of intensities (from plyometric body-weight to supramaximal loads) and that high loads are the most studied (~80–90% one-repetition maximum [1RM]) [ 2 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

The Effects of Plyometric Conditioning Exercises on Volleyball Performance with Self-Selected Rest Intervals

“…Since a slight augment of performance may be the worthwhile difference between winning and losing in sport, the pre-conditioning strategies for acute athletic performance enhancement are recently of great interest for coaches and sports scientists [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In addition to the ischemic preconditioning, acute caffeine ingestion, a post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is well-documented as an effective method of improving voluntary dynamic activities such as throwing, running or jumping in various athletes' populations, i.e., track and field and team sports [7][8][9][10][11][12]. In practical terms, this method involves the complex execution of two similar exercises, with the first one being a high-intensity conditioning activity (CA), inducing PAPE, followed by an explosive movement.…”