The Effect of Post-Activation Potentiation on Swimming Starts in Adolescent Swimmers

Abstract

Background: Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is a phenomenon in which there is an increase in induced momentum in sporting activities after muscle contractions. In swimming, the start of the race and the increase in speed in its first few meters are important. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the PAP protocol, which included a simulated body weight start on the ground, on the swimming start and on the 25 m freestyle performance. Methods: The study included 14 male and 14 female swimmers, 14.9 ± 0.6 years old. All the swimmers performed three maximal attempts of 25 m freestyle swimming from the starting block on three different days in a randomly counterbalanced order. In each session, swimmers performed either a 25 m freestyle without any intervention before the swimming trial (CG), or performed four vertical simulated ground starts at maximal effort, 15 s before (15 sG) or 8 min before (8 minG) the swimming trial. The jump height, entry distance, flight time, and flight speed for each attempt were calculated. Results: The CG entry distance was significantly longer than that of the 15 sG and 8 minG (3.39 ± 0.20 vs. 3.31 ± 0.21 and 3.25 ± 0.25 m, respectively, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Four simulated swim starts on the ground, 15 s or 8 min before the swim sprint, had no positive effect on the swim start or swim performance, and it is up to the swimmer to perform these jumps.