Postactivation potentiation fails again

Another research study [1] has put a thorn in the side of individuals whom promote postactivation potentiation (PAP) as a performance boosting training technique. In laymen’s terms PAP is if you  lift something heavy and then go and perform an explosive movement, you will move faster.  Similar to swinging a weighted bat in the on-deck circle ( which actually slows your swing down: see here).

Study:  Researchers took 14 resistance trained men, whom were very strong.  Their average squat was 2.02 ± 0.28 times their body weight.  The authors used a randomized and counter-balanced design: subjects either did a 5 heavy back squats at 80% RM or 10 explosive squat jumps at 20% RM.  They then performed 2 vertical jumps a 1,3,5, and 10 minutes post squat.

Results:  No significant results were found.  PAP failed to elicit any performance effects in either protocol.The authors concluded, “The use of these protocols in resistance-trained men to produce postactivation potentiation is not recommended”.

My thoughts:  Admittedly, these results reaffirm why I remain skeptical of PAP.  It could be that the protocol used in this study did not use a high enough intensity (80) or caused fatigue by performing 5 reps.  However, I remain skeptic of the performance benefits of PAP, especially for experienced athletes.  We will continue to look for future research which can help clarify whether PAP is the magically training system is has been seemingly touted as.  Personally, I do not utilize PAP in most training protocols, I still feel separate sessions are more beneficial most of the time (see:  Comprehensive Guide to the Vertical Jump).  I posit a good dynamic warm-up provides similar benefits as PAP.     Programs whom utilize this technique include: triphasic training (french-contrast), the flight system (french contrast), the complete vertical jump training system (french contrast), and the jump manual.

1.  Hester, Garrett M., Zachary K. Pope, John H. Sellers, Ryan M. Thiele, and Jason M. Defreitas. “Potentiation: Effect of Ballistic and Heavy Exercise on Vertical Jump Performance.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 31.3 (2017): 660-66.