In the routine of many athletes, the same doubts always arise: do we perform explosive exercises before strength exercises, or vice versa? Well, if you do not have time to do them in separate sessions, it is better to do the strength exercises first , and then the explosive exercises, thus taking advantage of muscle enhancement. Muscle enhancement or Post Activation Potentiation (PAP, Postactivation Potentiation) is a transitory increase in strength and power , produced by different forms of stimulation, such as different types of maximum force, an electro stimulator, etc. That is, an increased contractile muscle response after producing maximum muscle contractions. The purpose of this method is to obtain a greater explosiveness to apply to the sport we practice. Performing a series of multi-jumps after a series of squats would be an example. Throughout the article we will give more examples.
Mechanisms responsible for PAP
There seem to be 2 mechanisms responsible for the Post Activation Empowerment process to occur:
- Increased phosphorylation of muscle myosin light chains (actin and myosin filaments are primarily responsible for muscle contraction).
- Neurological factors through greater sympathetic efficiency between the Ia afferent pathway and the alpha motor neurons of the homonymous muscle. We already know the importance of neural activation prior to a work session. The article “Nervous activation to perform more in your workouts”, presents very valuable information in this regard.
Types of variables that influence PAP
Fatigue
Considering that potentiation and fatigue result from previous activation, it is reasonable to assume that these two processes, which occurred at the beginning of contractile activity, can coexist during and after stimulation. But the fatigue dissipates before the potentiation wanes, exceeding the previously obtained contractile performance, as can be seen in the graph. That is, muscle enhancement will occur at some point during the recovery period.
Athlete characteristics
Strength, fiber type distribution, training status, power-strength ratio are variables to take into account when evaluating the performance of this method. PAP is very specific to each individual . The main factor influencing PAP appears to be the type of muscle fiber. The higher the proportion of fast fibers (type II) , the higher PAP (01). Therefore, not all muscles have the same responses when it comes to muscle enhancement. It also appears that PAP is more effective in highly trained individuals (02).
Movement patterns
PAP appears to work best if the kinematics of maximum contraction approximates the kinematics of subsequent explosive activity. For example, a squat and a jump, both of which have similar movement patterns. Furthermore, it should be noted that the PAP could be more beneficial in simple actions such as a vertical jump, a long jump, or a maximum throw, or even a maximum isometric contraction, than for repetitive cyclical actions, such as sprinting, walking in bike or swim.
The type of contraction (dynamic or isometric)
Regarding the most effective type of muscle contraction for strengthening, it seems that there are no appreciable differences between the use of an isometric, concentric or eccentric contraction, although some trainers opt for one type of muscle contraction, and others for others. Poliquin recommends using wave loads to induce PAP (program 1-6), Christian Thibaudeau or Ross Enamait recommend previous maximum isometric contractions, and Chad Waterbury recommends using “supramaximal holds”, as we saw in the article “Develops specific force to MMA ”. The case is to transfer force in power . Heavy work with loads prior to explosive activity induces a high degree of stimulation in the central nervous system, resulting in increased motor unit recruitment lasting between 5 and 30 minutes . This time interval, which is called the PAP window , is a concept similar to that of the metabolic window after exercising, and is a highly variable parameter. The following study (3) shows an increase in power immediately after an exercise. low-volume maximal contraction (i.e., jumping immediately after a heavy set of squats), or after a specific recovery period for high-volume maximal contractions (wait several minutes before executing the explosive activity). An example of a high volume maximal contraction would be 8 sets of 5 seconds of isoholds or hold the load, employing a 40 ”rest between sets. Both windows of the PAP can be seen in the attached graphic, one at the beginning, and one at the back.
Bret Contreras, for example, prefers to work with low-volume contractions , with very little rest time, rather than using high-volume contractions with long rest times. Regarding the type of exercises, in the exercises with maximum contraction, he prefers those carried out with both legs, to the unilateral ones, since these would take too long, and could interfere with the PAP window of opportunity. As for the subsequent exercises, prefer explosive exercises with body weight , instead of jump squats or power cleans.
Contraction intensity
It seems that the maximum intensities are optimal . Most authors consider that high% 1RM are needed to produce PAP, Baker (2003) in a study (4) carried out with 16 professional rugby players, found that PAP was produced with a load of 65% of the MR. The author considers that a high load, such as 90% of the MR, is too much for the upper limbs. There is another study in this regard by Rahimi (2007), who investigated the effects of 2 sets of 4 reps at 60%, 70% and 85% of 1RM on sprint time in a 40m run. The results of the study indicate that the race improved by 1.9%, 2.77% and 2.98% respectively.
Why should the coach believe in the PAP method?
Many trainers prefer to do explosive work prior to strength work because they believe that power work should be done while the nervous system is cool, and so they separate skills into different sessions throughout the day. However, many athletes go to the gym once a day, and above all just in time, so the PAP method is very useful for them, in the case of wanting to improve power while training heavy. PAP method is that it does not affect the training routine too much. It is not very difficult to add a vertical jump after a squat, or a clap pushup, after a series of bench presses.
Verkhosansky also talks about empowerment (05) in his book Supertraining. In this case, a vertical jump is performed after performing barbell squats, obtaining the following conclusions:
- Maximum strength increases significantly during the first minute , around 25% of the initial level.
- After 4 minutes-5 minutes, the force continues to grow up to 65% of the initial force (a value that seems exaggerated to any reader).
- Analyzing maximum isometric efforts in time after squatting, it is observed that the time required to reach maximum strength was reduced by 2.6% and 4.6% after 3 minutes and 4 minutes respectively. Then it would increase to exceed the initial limit.
- In another study by Verhoshansky, an increase in the long jump is shown, after the squat , of 6.8% at 3 minutes -4 minutes later. And an increase in vertical jump by 8% at 8-10 minutes respectively after squatting.
Examples of training complexes
Bret Contreras believes that executing more than one explosive exercise first in our routine decreases the ability to work to develop maximum strength. On the contrary, performing more than one strength exercise with high loads at the beginning of our session decreases the ability to perform maximum explosive work. For example, if someone were to perform a few high-load sets of squats, deadlifts, and barbell glute bridges before vertical jumps and sprints, their jumping and sprinting power would suffer, and the athlete would feel slower than expected. normal. The same can be said if, on the contrary, we do some jump squats and loaded, before squatting heavy. We would feel that we cannot maximize strength. Alternating the 2 types of activities using complexes or training blocks , it can provide us with the perfect setting.
Next we add a series of examples of exercises that form a complex, separating the strength exercises from the explosive exercises by an inclined bar.
- Heavy bench press / medicine ball throws, slap push-ups
- Heavy squats / vertical jumps, jump lunges
- Dead weight, Good morning Hip Thrust or Barbell Glute Bridge, all of them heavy / sprints or long jumps
- Pallof press or Woodchops / racket hits, golf swings, or discus throw.
- Standing Abwheel / Javelin Throw.
Sources:
G-SE
01. Hamada et al (2003) Interaction of fiber type, potentiation and fatigue in human knee extensor muscles
02. Chiu et al (2003) Postactivation potentiation response in athletic and recreationally trained individuals
03. Bishop et al (2009) Factors modulating post-activation and its effect on performance of subsequent explosive activities
04. Baker (2003) Acute effect of alternating heavy and light resistances on power output during upper body-body complex body training
05. Verkhoshansky, Super Training .
