A comparison of three post-activation potentiation enhancement warm up strategies on bench press performance

At loads greater than 80% of one repetition maximum in bench press, at the ascending phase of the movement, the barbell decelerates or stops for a short time before it accelerates again during a region named sticking region. Post-Activation Performance Enhancement is one of the ways to increase maximal performance in bench press.

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of different warm-up protocols with ballistic, high resistance exercises or dynamic stretching on the maximal barbell bench press performance and elbow angular velocity around the sticking region in male students.

Eighteen resistance trained male students (age: 23.8 ± 1.3 years, height: 1.70 ± 0.04 m, body mass: 74.4 ± 3.8 kg) performed maximal bench press after three different warm-up strategies, while barbell velocity, elbow angular velocity and barbell displacement around the sticking region were analysed with a 3D motion analysis system.

The barbell velocity after the ballistic warm-up at first maximal velocity from the lowest position on the chest (v_max1), lowest barbell velocity after maximal velocity (v_min) and second maximal barbell velocity (v_max2) were higher compared to the other two warm-up methods. As well as, the time of occurrence of v_min and v_max2 occurred significantly earlier at the ballistic warm-up compared to the other two warm-ups, while the barbell height at v_max1 after the ballistic warm-up was significantly higher than after the other two warm-up protocols. Furthermore, elbow angular velocity was higher after the ballistic warm-up protocol compared to the other two protocols with significant differences observed at v_max1 and v_min and not at v_max2.

According to the obtained results, warm-up with ballistic exercises could have more optimal effects on athletes' performance and resulted in better surpassing the sticking region of the barbell bench press.