Potentiation of concentric force and acceleration only occurs early during the stretch-shortening cycle

The purpose of this study was to determine where stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) potentiation of force, power, velocity, and acceleration occurs across the concentric phase of ballistic leg presses. Second, we examined the influence of late eccentric phase force and length of the amortization phase on potentiated concentric phase performance variables. Twenty-one male runners (age: 31.9 ± 4.7 years) performed SSC and concentric-only (CO) ballistic leg press throws. Potentiations of concentric actions were calculated as the difference between SSC and CO contractions. An analysis splitting the concentric range of motion (ROM) into 6 equal time intervals determined force and acceleration were potentiated (p < 0.05) only during the first one-sixth time interval of concentric motion, whereas velocity and power were potentiated (p < 0.05) at all time intervals over the entire concentric motion with the exception of power over the last one-sixth time interval. A more precise analysis examining 20-millisecond time intervals across the first 200 milliseconds of concentric motion determined force was potentiated only over the first 140 milliseconds and acceleration only over the first 160 milliseconds. Eccentric force measured during the last 100 milliseconds of eccentric motion was related to potentiated force during the initial 200 milliseconds of concentric motion (r = 0.44, p < 0.05) and potentiated mean power across the full concentric ROM (r = 0.62, p < 0.01). Results indicate that in contrast to power and velocity, potentiation of force and acceleration occurs only early during the concentric phase of SSC ballistic leg presses. Correlational findings imply late eccentric phase force is important for generating force and power during the concentric phase of the SSC and thus training focusing on enhancing late phase eccentric force appears important for developing explosive force and power during SSC movements.