INTRODUCTION: Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is a widely described physiological phenomenon showing increases in exercise performance after previous muscle activation (1). Throughout the years authors have been studying the phenomenon but so far there was not found a consensus what are the ideal parameters of a conditioning activity (CA) to induce PAPE (2). However, authors generally tend to focus on different parameters of a CA and its responses on a given test. Our approach was different - we decided to evaluate the responses of the same CA in two different jumping tests: countermovement jump (CMJ) and squat jump (SJ). Additionally, accommodating resistance via elastic band was used to induce PAPE - a training method that is widely used in the sport and was already used in PAPE research (3). METHODS: Twelve elite volleyball players experienced in resistance training (relative 1RM in a trap bar deadlift with accommodating resistance 1.92 ± 0.12 kg/kg body mass) performed four conditions: CMJ or SJ at the baseline (after standardized general warm up) and 90 seconds post CA [3 repetitions with 80% 1RM (aproximately 15% 1RM of elastic band) of a trap bar deadlift] and control conditions without CA. RESULTS: The CA used in the study failed to enhance performances in SJ and CMJ in a group of all players. The difference between baseline and after CA in jump height (JH) was found to be statistically insignificant (p>0.05): in CMJ baseline 44.9 ± 4.3 cm to post 45.3 ± 4.6 cm; in SJ baseline 42.6 ± 4.2 cm to post 43.7 ± 3.6 cm. However, analysis of individual data showed more participants positively (changes in JH = 0.1 cm) responding to a CA in SJ (8 out of 11, 73%; 1 player not performed it due to an ankle injury) than CMJ (6 out of 12, 50%). Additional analysis of players who responded positively to a CA showed a significant improvement in JH in CMJ and SJ. CONCLUSION: We observed an individual PAPE response to a given CA. Even though baseline to post changes in JH for both jumps after CA were found to be statistically insignificant for all players, we noticed a different response regarding to a jumping test performed - more participants responded positively in SJ than CMJ. Despite both jumps having an existing movement direction specificity to a CA, SJ has the same type of a muscle contraction type as a trap bar deadlift (concentric from isometric position) while CMJ is an eccentric-concentric type of movement. Therefore, selecting the same muscle contraction type of a CA to an explosive exercise could be an additional component to consider while creating an effective protocol to induce PAPE.
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