The Use of Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) to Improve Athletic Strength

Abstract

A publication from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), an association in the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) 1900 Association Drive • Reston, Virginia • 20191 • www.NASPEinfo.org • 703.476.3410 A well-designed pre-activity warm-up will bring about various physiological changes that will enhance the training activity or competition. Time restraints for training sessions are often a reality for coaches necessitating alternative pre-activity preparation methods. Recent research indicates that alternative warm-up methods have the ability to bolster an athlete's strength/power potential. Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) is the contractile history of a muscle which influences the mechanical performance of subsequent muscle contractions. Fatiguing muscle contractions impair muscle performance; whereas, non-fatiguing muscle contractions, typically at high loads of brief duration, may enhance muscle performance (Stone, Sands, Pierce, Ramsey, & Haff, 2008). Thus, PAP is the increase in muscle force and rate of force development that occurs as a result of previous activation of the muscle. The proposed mechanism for PAP is the phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains, which renders actin-myosin more sensitive to Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum during subsequent muscle contractions