The Effects of Loaded Plyometric Exercise during Warm-Up on Subsequent Sprint Performance in Collegiate Track Athletes: A Randomized Trial
K Tomlinson, Ken Hansen, Daniel Helzer, Zakkoyya H. Lewis, Whitney D. Leyva, Meghan McCauley, William Pritchard, Emma Silvestri, Monica Quila, Michael Yi, Edward Jo
Abstract
Prior evidence demonstrates the efficacy by which plyometric activities during warm-up conditions augment the subsequent performance in power-centric exercise. We investigated the acute effects of loaded jump squats incorporated into a standard sprinters’ warm-up protocol on subsequent sprint performance in collegiate track athletes. Sprint times of 22 male and female collegiate track athletes were measured in 10-m intervals during a 30-m sprint trial following a standard sprinters’ warm-up routine with or without plyometric exercise. Subjects were tested on two separate occasions, once with loaded jump squats as the experimental treatment (two sets of eight jumps, load = 13% bodyweight) (PLYO) and once with time-equated rest as the control treatment (CON). Treatments were implemented following a standard sprinters’ warm-up routine familiar to the subjects. A dependent T-test was used for comparison of sprint interval times between conditions with a significant effect indicated by a p-value < 0.05. Sprint time did not differ between CON vs. PLYO at the 10 m (PLYO = 1.90 ± 0.12 s vs. CON = 1.90 ± 0.11 s, p = 0.66), 20 m (PLYO = 3.16 ± 0.21 s vs. CON = 3.15 ± 0.19 s, p = 0.53), and 30 m (PLYO = 4.32 ± 0.32 s vs. CON = 4.31 ± 0.28 s, p = 0.61) intervals. There was no interaction between treatment and sex, sex-specific ranking (above vs. below sex-specific mean), or sprint event (short vs. short–long vs. long) for 10 m, 20 m, or 30-m interval sprint times. At least within the limits of the current investigation, no evidence was provided to suggest that jump squats loaded at 13% bodyweight are an effective means to acutely potentiate sprint performance in collegiate track athletes. However, a further examination of responders indicates that the present loaded jump squat protocol may preferentially potentiate sprint performance in faster male athletes.