Effect of postactivation potentiation on fifty-meter freestyle in national swimmers

Effect of postactivation potentiation (PAP) on fifty meters freestyle in national swimmers. 2013.- The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of PAP on 50m freestyle in national-level swimmers. Four warm-ups were compared: A traditional race-specific warm-up (RSWU), upper body PAP (UBPAP), lower body PAP (LBPAP) and combined PAP warm-up (CPAP). Eighteen (10 men, 8 women) national-level swimmers participated in this study, which included seven separate testing sessions. Participants' 3 repetition maximum (3RM) of the pull-up (PU) was established in session 1. In session 2, rest periods for muscle enhancement of the upper body were determined using a medicine-ballthrow test 4, 8 and 12 minutes post UBPAP stimulus (1 x 3RM of the PU). In session 3, swimmers performed a counter movement jump 4, 8 and 12 minutes post LBPAP stimulus (1x5 jumps to a box whilst carrying 10% of the participants' body weight). The 50m freestyle tests were performed on sessions 4 to 7, preceded by each warm-up protocol and corresponding rest periods. A repeated measures ANOVA (p