Post-Activation Potentiation by Austin Both
[Austin Both is the Associate Performance Director of Athletic Lab] Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is a phrase and concept commonly known amongst most coaches. For athletes and other fitness enthusiasts; however, it might sound like some overly complex term used in an attempt to sound qualified. Although it sounds highly technical, its definition is relatively simple. PAP can be defined as "a phenomenon by which the force exerted by a muscle is increased due to its previous contraction" (Robbins, 2005). In practical terms, this essentially means that following a rapid and forceful contraction, you are capable of producing greater force. As a result, we can harness this effect and use it to our advantage in a multitude of ways. The first and simplest consideration would be exercise order in a session. While there are many factors that cause coaches to program power-based movements early in the session, PAP can be considered amongst them. While we want to prioritize these movements, such as weightlifting patterns, jumps, throws, swings, etc. due to cognitive demands and the quality decrement that fatigue would place upon them, they can also enhance the training that is to follow. Beginning a session with something like a clean pll or a power clean can cause a PAP effect on the ensuing lower body movements, allowing for great force production and subsequently greater strength gains. Similar to exercise order throughout a session, exercises can be advantageously paired together for a positive effect. The aim of these pairings is to elicit improved outcomes for force, power, and rate of force development, both in an acute sense and for long-term adaptations (Hodgson et al., 2005). This is generally regarded as contrast training. One such example would begin [...]
