WHAT’S THE POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION?
And what is the best and more practical method to achieve Post- Activation Potentiation?
Keep reading to learn more…
Science shows us, consistently, that Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) increases muscle contractions and explosive movements.
Post-Activation Potentiation is an increase in muscle performance after a conditioning contraction. In other words, is a training stimulus that will help you have a better performance in Strength, Power, and Speed.
PAP enhances short-duration athletic performance that requires maximal Power production. In Karate, maximal Power production is a key-point in performance of Kata and Kumite.
INFLUENCE OF YOUR PERSONAL LEVEL OF STRENGTH AND RESISTANCE TRAINING EXPERIENCE ON POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION (PAP)
The training level is one of the main factors that affects how much PAP influences your performance.
Several studies have shown that high-level athletes have a better response to PAP than those who participate in recreational resistance training, for example.
Stronger athletes are able to exhibit a greater PAP effect than their weaker colleagues.
Why?
Because they have the ability to recruit their motor units faster and at a higher firing rate when compared with untrained individuals.
In addition, stronger individuals develop a higher resistance to fatigue when exposed to heavier loads, after a near-maximal effort.
Moreover, individuals with previous Strength training experience show a considerably larger PAP effect than those with no previous experience in Strength training.
That makes sense!
Gourgoulis and Aggeloussis (2003), for example, found that athletes with greater Maximal Strength showed a greater improvement in vertical jump after a previous conditioning stimulus (4.01%).
On the other side, participants with lower Maximal Strength had much smaller improvements (0.42%).
Note: Vertical Jump is a very used exercise to evaluate Leg Power.
INFLUENCE OF FIBER TYPE ON PAP
Another explanation for this difference between levels of Strength and Strength training experience is Fiber Type in Karate athletes’ muscles.
The improvements in performance achieved with PAP are undoubtable in high-intensity activities that require high force, speed, and power – like Karate.
The performance in such activities depends on the amount of Fast (Type II) Muscle Fibers.
Muscles with a higher percentage of type ii fibers, exhibit greater PAP effects.
Despite muscle Fiber Type, and their distribution in the muscle, being mainly determined by genetic factors, it can also be influenced by training level, methods or age.
You can transform 2X fibers into 2A fibers, with Strength training. 2A fibers produce fast and more intense contractions but have a higher fatigue resistance than 2X type.
This is important because in a Kumite round or in a graduation you won’t punch, defend, kick or displace as fast as you can only one or two times (in that case, 2X fibers would be enough).
A fight will last, at least, 2 minutes, without counting with time extensions when you have a draw.
And what about if you win several heats?
Your muscles must be able to contract as fast as they up to the finals or the ending of the graduation exam, right?
You can also achieve a selective Hypertrophy of Type 2 Fibers, with the right protocol.
INFLUENCE OF THE TYPE OF CONDITIONING STIMULUS ON POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION
Plyometric, Ballistic, and Traditional High-Intensity methods of training produce considerably larger PAP effects than traditional moderate intensity and maximal isometric exercises.
Maximal isometric contractions can even decrease the performance.
PLYOMETRICS ARE BETTER THAN TRADITIONAL HIGH- INTENSITY RESISTANCE TRAINING!
Explanations for the superiority of Plyometric exercises on the induction of PAP?
- Plyometrics have a preferential recruitment of Type II motor units (as you already saw in this subchapter, it’s one central mechanism underpinning PAP).
- Given the relationship between fatigue and PAP, Plyometrics may produce less fatigue than a loaded traditional Strength exercise. This allows a greater potentiation effect to be achieved and reduces the time needed to achieve the maximal PAP.
- A greater PAP effect can be achieved earlier (i.e., 0.3–4 min), after the completion of a Plyometric drill, when compared with traditional high- and moderate-intensity conditioning/warm-up methods (i.e., > 5 min).
- You can use Plyometrics in any place you need to enhance your athletes. In a tournament or in the Dojo.
Besides Plyometrics, another way of inducing the effects of PAP is with traditional Strength training methods… in this case, evidence suggests high-intensity exercises are more effective than moderate-intensity to induce potentiation.
For example, Fukutani et al. reported larger increases in jump performance after an ascending heavy-squat protocol up to 90 % of 1 RM than with a protocol performed at up to 75 % of 1 RM.
This is true for both groups: stronger and weaker individuals.
The superiority of high-intensity exercises to induce larger PAP effects may partially be explained by the fact that they may increase the recruitment of higher-intensity (Type II) motor units.
PAP based on Ballistic exercises induces improvements in performance ranging from 2 to 5 %. This result is similar to those induced by Heavy Resistance Exercises.
What are the most effective Ballistic Exercises?
Protocols that employ either depth jumps (Plyometric exercise) or weighted jumps (including weightlifting variations).
INFLUENCE OF THE DEPTH OF SQUATS ON POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION
When a back squat is employed as a traditional Strength exercise, a shallower depth produces a considerably larger effect than a deeper depth.
Just think about your Dojo, when you make your students practicing Kiba Dachi or Shiko Dachi!
If you use some Kihon in your warm-up and you want them to train Plyometrics or Explosive movements right after that, please don’t force them to go to their deepest stances!!
That kind of exercise is valid, but in another training context…
This may be explained by the fact that a full squat and lower Karate stances are likely to induce higher levels of acute fatigue than a partial squat or because of a longer time under tension. This will reduce the ability to express high levels of PAP.
But attention that the effect of squat depth on subsequent performance is largely influenced by the strength of the athlete.
Shallower squats produce a slightly greater PAP effect than deeper squats in stronger individuals.
But they are far greater stimulators of PAP among weaker individuals.
This way, in the warm-up scenario before Explosive training be careful with the deep Karate stances, especially with your recreational students.
These students are the majority in your Dojo, right?
A longer time under tension in deeper squats or Karate stances may produce higher levels of fatigue than shallower squats. This limits the ability of the weakest individuals to express higher levels of potentiation in Speed training.
Conversely, stronger individuals who have a greater capacity to resist fatigue are likely to exhibit similar levels of fatigue following deeper and shallower squats.
This allows them to express similar levels of potentiation after both types of squat (here, we’re talking about Karate athletes!!).
INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION
Science didn’t find, until today, significant differences in Post-Activation Potentiation between men and women. The principles you read in this sub-chapter are valid to both genders.
FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE YOU MUST RETAIN
Post-Activation Potentiation has important effects for lower-body and upper-body Speed and Ballistic performance activities. For Karate this is a fundamental knowledge.
A knowledge that can potentiate the performance in competition, in a graduation, and even in a training session!
The magnitude of potentiation is influenced by the Strength level and Strength training experience of karate students. Or even by the depth reached during a squat when this exercise is employed to induce PAP.
The type of method is also important.
PLYOMETRICS ARE THE MOST INFLUENT AND PRACTICAL TYPE OF EXERCISE.
The PAP effect is quicker with Plyometric drills (0.3-4 min.) compared to traditional high- and moderate-intensity resistance training (over 5 min.).
Another important advantage of Plyometrics is its practical use in a competition or a Dojo. You don’t need to have Strength training equipment, like machines, bars or dumbells.
This is also important for Karate coaches that are looking for a more time-efficient way to incorporate PAP exercises into their training plans. Stronger and weaker individuals appear to respond differently to the different components of a Strength–Power–potentiation complex.
