The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a ballistic and a heavy load conditioning stimulus on subsequent bench throw performance. Eleven male, competitive rugby players (mean ± SD: body mass 91.5 ± 9.6kg, height 1.79 ± 0.03 m) with at least two years of resistance training exercise performed two ballistic bench throws after warm up. Following a 10-min rest, they performed either a ballistic bench throw (BAL) or a heavy load bench press (HEAVY) conditioning stimulus. Subsequent to a 4-minute rest, they performed another two ballistic bench press throws. No significant differences were revealed for peak power, peak force, rate of force development and force at peak power for either conditioning stimulus. However, significant differences were revealed for bar displacement for the BAL group, and for peak velocity and velocity at peak power for both groups. The results suggest that a ballistic conditioning stimulus can induce post activation performance enhancement and it appears more sport specific in its results than a heavy load conditioning stimulus
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