Date of Award

8-2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Health and Human Performance

Program

Exercise Science (MS)

First Advisor/Chairperson

Randall L. Jensen

Abstract

Post-activation potentiation has been shown to improve jumping performance and other ballistic activities. The improvements in performance have been attributed to four main mechanisms, but the most important mechanism to the current study is the improvement in neural activity that leads to greater levels of potentiation. Post-activation potentiation has been shown to be stimulated by a maximal activity, called a conditioning contraction, and can be used as a warm up. In studies that have not shown the effects of post-activation potentiation, the proposed reason is fatigue, but the interaction of post-activation potentiation and fatigue have not been thoroughly tested. The purpose of this study was to assess the interaction of fatigue and post-activation potentiation. The present study tested recreational, healthy, lower body resistance trained participants who took part in 3 days of testing (familiarization/baseline testing and 2 fatigue test days). The results of the current study showed no significant difference between the control and experimental days for any of the variables measured. The results of this study demonstrate that the use of a conditioning contraction during a warm up protocol will not be a detriment to performance during repeated jumps and could be used in a warm up. The present study may have been limited by a small number of participants, individual variation, and training status of the participants.

Access Type

Open Access

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