Effects of Post-Activation Performance Enhancement on Jump Performance in Elite Volleyball Players

Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is a widely described phenomenon, but the majority of studies tend to evaluate the response of various parameters of a conditioning activity (CA) on the same explosive exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the PAPE response of the same CA-trap bar deadlift with an accommodating resistance-on jump height in two different jumping tests: squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ). Study participants included twelve elite volleyball players (age 23 +/- 2 years; body height, 194.7 +/- 5.9 cm; body mass, 89.8 +/- 7.9 kg; body fat, 14.7 +/- 3.7%) experienced in resistance training (relative 1RM of a trap bar deadlift with accommodating resistance 1.92 +/- 0.12 kg/body mass). Each participant performed tests under four conditions: two conditions for both SJ and CMJ-experimental with CA and control without CA. Jumps were performed at the baseline and 90 s after CA. The protocol did not increase jump power significantly in either SJ or CMJ. However, individual analysis showed that more participants responded positively to the CA in SJ (73%) than CMJ (50%), implying that PAPE response may depend on the similarity of the muscle-type contraction between CA and an explosive exercise.