This fortnight I have included an article titled ‘EFFECT OF POSTACTIVATION POTENTIATION ON EXPLOSIVE VERTICAL JUMP: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS ‘ which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research July 2019.
The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence surrounding post-activation potentiation (PAP) and it’s effect on explosive vertical power.
The authors examined 36 studies and concluded that indicate that “PAP does not improve vertical jump performance.”
However, the authors go on to note that rest intervals between 3 and 7 minutes provided favorable performance outcomes, whereas rest intervals less than 3 minutes or performing isometric contractions may be detrimental to performance.
The study then concluded that “when appropriate PAP guidelines are followed, an increase in vertical jump performance may be achieved.”
Click the link below to download and let me know what you think!
Exercise profile
In this clip, I demonstrate a simple resisted Waiter’s Bow drill to activate lumbar multifidus. I do this one for clients with low back pain before we start the session.
If you are interested in learning more about muscle imbalances like this, click the button below to check out our Rehab Express course.
Infographic – optomising motor-unit recruitment
This graphic notes the importance of activating high-threshold motor units & lifting to failure to facilitate hypertrophy.
Effort is the key determinant of the level of motor unit recruitment that is used in any muscular contraction. Thus, strength training with light loads can involve high levels of motor unit recruitment even without the presence of fatigue when bar speed is maximal.
However, the level of mechanical tension experienced by the muscle fibers of the high-threshold motor units during these fast contractions is too low to cause any hypertrophy, because of the force-velocity relationship.
Coach resource
This fortnight’s training resource is titled ‘The Ultimate Dynamic Warmup‘ and includes a nice little barefoot sequence that you can apply with your athletes as part of your warm-up.
