Exercise Bouts at Three Different Intensities Fail to Potentiate Concentric Power

Postactivation potentiation (PAP) has been hypothesized previously to occur during voluntary, concentric actions. We tested the hypothesis that one of at least three different intensities of conditioning exercises would evoke potentiation of power during the concentric, bench press throw (BPT). Twelve men (age = 22.9 ± 2.7 years, bench press 1 repetition maximum (1RM) = 1.20 ± 0.12 kg·kg^-1 body weight) completed five isotonic conditioning presses at ~55, 70, and 86% 1RM, in counterbalanced order, and on separate days. Average and peak power of the BPT using a load of 55% 1RM along with surface electromyography (EMG) of the triceps brachii were collected prior to and 4-minutes following each conditioning bout. Both average and peak power and EMG values (mean ± SD), respectively, were evaluated using two-way analyses of variance with repeated measures. Significant main effect decreases (p < 0.05) in average (-18.6 ± 4.9 W) and peak power (-37.4 ± 9.9 W) occurred across the three different intensities evaluated. No main effects or interactions were observed with the EMG data. Contrary to the previously reported hypothesis, we were unable to demonstrate that conditioning exercise, with three different intensities, can evoke potentiation of power using a load equating to that which is optimum for power production.