[Acute effects of postactivation potentiation on strength and speed performance in athletes]

The contractile history of a muscle or a muscle group can result in an acute enhancement of subsequent muscle force output. This phenomenon is referred to as postactivation potentiation (PAP) and it was frequently substantiated in original research manuscripts, systematic literature reviews, and meta-analyses. However, there is a lack in the literature regarding precise dose-response relations. This literature review describes the main determinants of PAP effects and additionally presents the state of the art regarding the acute effects of PAP protocols on measures of strength, power, and speed in subelite and elite athletes of different sport disciplines. Furthermore, an attempt is made to demonstrate evidence-based information concerning the design of effective PAP protocols.

Our literature search included the electronic databases Pubmed, SportDiscus, and Google Scholar (1995-March 2013). In total, 23 studies met the inclusionary criteria for review.

Findings from our literature review indicate that various conditioning activities produce acute PAP effects in subelite and particularly elite athletes. More specifically, conditioning activities that are characterised by multiple sets, moderate to high intensities (60-84 % of the one repetition maximum), and rest intervals of 7-10 min. following the conditioning activity have the potential to induce short-term improvements in muscle force output and sports performance.

It is recommended that subelite and particularly elite athletes from strength, power, and speed disciplines apply specifically tailored conditioning activities during the acute preparation process for competition to induce performance enhancing PAP effects.