ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Muscle Activity and Power Output Recovery: The Roles of Rest Duration and Underlying Endurance Capacity in the Wingate Test
Provisionally accepted
- 1Key Lab of Aquatic Sports Training Monitoring and Intervention of General Administration of Sport of China, Faculty of Physical Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
- 2Faculty of Physical Education，Nanchang Jiaotong Institute， Nanchang , China., Nanchang, China
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Purpose: This study aimed to determine the optimal recovery time for maximizing post-activation performance enhancement in resistance-trained males grouped by local muscle endurance, and evaluate its effects on anaerobic performance and neuromuscular activity. Methods: Twenty-four healthy men were grouped by repetitions completed at 80% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) back squat, serving as a functional proxy for muscle endurance characteristics: Low-Muscle-Endurance (LME, n=8, 20.5 ± 1.2 years), Intermediate-Muscle-Endurance (IME, n=8, 20.3± 1.3 years), and High-Muscle-Endurance (HME, n=8, 20.1 ± 1.1 years). Participants completed a control session (CON) and three experimental trials involving a back squat conditioning protocol (3×3 repetitions at 80% 1RM), followed by a 30-s Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) after 3 (T3), 8 (T8), or 12 (T12) minutes of recovery. Surface electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded from the right rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF), and gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) during WAnT and analyzed for integrated EMG (IEMG) and mean power frequency (MPF). Results: A clear hierarchy in baseline peak power (PP) was observed across groups, with LME > IME > HME (all p < 0.05). The LME group also demonstrated a higher fatigue index (FI) than both HME and IME groups (all p < 0.05). Regarding the time course of PAPE, PP for the cohort was significantly higher at T12 than at CON (p = 0.021). RF IEMG at T12 was significantly elevated versus CON (p = 0.024), while BF IEMG increased at T8 (p = 0.011). BF MPF was also higher at T12 compared to CON (p = 0.039). No significant recovery effects were observed for mean power (MP). Conclusion:Individuals stratified by local muscle endurance exhibited distinct baseline anaerobic capacities and fatigue profiles. The optimal PAPE window occurred 8-12 minutes post-activation, marked by initial biceps femoris neural drive enhancement, followed by peak power and improved neuromuscular efficiency at 12 minutes. These findings support this practical stratification method for personalizing recovery strategies, linking PAPE magnitude differences to physiological traits reflected in endurance-based grouping.
Keywords: post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE), Muscle endurance, Recovery duration, surface electromyography, Wingate test
Received: 28 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Liu, Duan and Gong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhigang Gong
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