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THE ACUTE EFFECTS OF QUADRICEP- AND HAMSTRING-ISOLATED EXERCISES ON VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is an important mechanism that can be induced to improve performances, such as the vertical jump (VJ). Many PAP-inducing exercises have been studied in the context of VJ performance. However, most of these were compound movements despite reports of higher muscle activation in quadricep- and hamstring-isolated exercises. PURPOSE: The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of quadricep- and hamstring-isolated PAP-inducing exercises on VJ performance in strength trained. The research hypotheses were that both quadricep-isolated and hamstring-isolated exercises would increase VJ more than compound exercises. METHODS: Twenty-three strength-trained (nfemales = 7, nmales = 16; 23 ± 1.4 yrs old) individuals completed a back squat assessment session followed by four testing sessions in random order: control (CTRL), quadriceps (QUAD), hamstring (HAMS), and compound (COMP). CTRL involved a VJ test performed after a standardized dynamic warm-up. QUAD involved completion of unilateral leg presses after the warm-up, but before the VJ test. HAMS involved completion of heel strikes on a stability ball after the warmup, but before the VJ test. COMP involved completion of barbell back squats before the VJ test. VJ testing included three separate countermovement jumps, separated by 1 min. The jumps for each session were averaged. A repeated measures ANOVA (p ≤ 0.05) was utilized to determine significant differences between conditions. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p = 0.036) found in VJ height across conditions (CTRL: 64.6 ± 12.7 cm, QUAD: 65.7 ± 13.2 cm, HAMS: 64.2 ± 13.2 cm, COMP: 64.2 ± 13.1 cm). Post-hoc analysis indicated QUAD was significantly greater than HAMS (p = 0.033), but there were no additional differences between conditions (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Isolated muscle exercises did not appear to induce a greater PAP stimulus than the compound exercise under the examined research conditions. The PAP-inducing loads (~ 80% of 1-RM utilized in this study were consistent with previous research that demonstrated a PAP effect. The rest following PAP-inducing exercises (4 min) was near the minimum that has been documented as effective. Future studies should utilize a longer rest time (7-16 min) between the exercises and jump tests.

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