Simultaneous Upper- and Lower-Limb Postactivation Performance Enhancement After Clean and Jerk

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Postactivation performance enhancement (PAPE) research has primarily focused on isolated upper or lower limb exercises.
• A single conditioning activity inducing PAPE across both upper and lower limbs simultaneously remains unidentified.
• Understanding PAPE across limbs is crucial for optimizing training protocols in athletes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the clean and jerk (C&J) as a conditioning activity for inducing simultaneous PAPE in upper and lower limbs.
• To determine the temporal effects of C&J on PAPE at 4, 7, and 12 minutes post-intervention.

Main Methods:

• Twelve male weightlifters performed the C&J exercise at varying intensities (30-80% 1RM) as a conditioning activity.
• Participants completed countermovement jumps (lower limbs) and bench-press throws (upper limbs) at 4, 7, and 12 minutes post-C&J.
• A control condition involved only general warm-up before performance tests.

Main Results:

• The C&J condition significantly enhanced countermovement jump height compared to the control.
• The C&J condition also significantly improved bench-press throw performance compared to the control.
• Similar effect sizes for PAPE were observed between upper and lower limbs, irrespective of the time interval.

Conclusions:

• The clean and jerk exercise is effective in inducing simultaneous postactivation performance enhancement in both upper and lower limbs.
• The C&J serves as a potent conditioning activity for eliciting interlimb PAPE.
• This finding suggests the C&J can be integrated into training to enhance performance across multiple limbs.