Effects of different elastic cord assistance levels on vertical jump

Tran, TT, Brown, LE, Coburn, JW, Lynn, SK, Dabbs, NC, Schick, MK, Schick, EE, Khamoui, AV, Uribe, BP, and Noffal, GJ. Effects of different elastic cord assistance levels on vertical jump. J Strength Cond Res 25(12): 3472-3478, 2011-Currently, little research has been conducted using body weight reduction (BWR) as a means to enhance vertical jump. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different elastic cord assistance levels on vertical jump height (JH), takeoff velocity (TOV), relative ground reaction force (rGRF), relative impact force (RIF), and descent velocity (DV). Thirty recreationally trained college men and women (M = 15, W = 15) completed 3 testing sessions consisting of 5 conditions: 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% BWR. In all BWR conditions, the subjects wore a full body harness while being attached to 2 elastic cords suspended from the ceiling and a linear velocity transducer. They then performed 3 maximal countermovement jumps with arm swing on a force plate. The results indicated no interaction of condition by sex for any variable; however, there was a significant (p < 0.05) main effect for condition for each variable. The JH significantly increased across all conditions (0%: 43.73 ± 1.62 cm, 40%: 64.77 ± 2.36 cm). The TOV at 30% (2.73 ± 0.34 m·s) was significantly greater than that at 0% (2.59 ± 0.39 m·s) and 10% (2.63 ± 0.34 m·s), whereas that at 40% (2.79 ± 0.43 m·s) was significantly greater than that at >0, 10, and 20%. The rGRF at 30% (18.62 ± 4.35 N·kg) was significantly greater than that at >0, 10, and 20%, whereas that at 40% (21.38 ± 5.21 N·kg) was significantly greater than in all conditions. The RIF at 20, 30, and 40% (40%: 61.60 ± 18.53 N·kg) was significantly greater than that at 0% (44.46 ± 9.12 N·kg). The DV at 20% (2.61 ± 0.31 m·s) was significantly greater than at 10%, whereas those at 30 and 40% (2.8 ± 0.41 m·s) were significantly greater than at 0, 10, and 20%. These results demonstrate that using different elastic cord levels to reduce body weight appears effective for increasing ascent and descent force and velocity variables. Future research should investigate greater BWR% and chronic training.