About this Research Topic
Human performance is primarily determined by long-term exercise training. However, post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) has emerged as an interesting strategy to acutely potentiate performance in the day of competition or during specific training sessions. It consists of submitting athletes to pre-conditioning activities comprising near-maximal exercises a few minutes prior to the activity that is expected to be potentiated. Responsiveness to PAPE is regulated by several factors such as training experience, sex, age, pre-conditioning protocol and the interval between pre-activation and performance assessment. The mechanisms underpinning this acute, short-lived, improvement in performance are still being debated in the literature and should be further elucidated.
Although similar in name and methodological approach, PAPE differs from post-activation potentiation (PAP) as the first is related to voluntary performance whereas the second is determined using evoked contractions. Original investigations aiming to determine the mechanisms underlying PAP are abundant while studies targeting mechanisms directly associated with PAPE are scarce. It has been suggested that increased muscle temperature, water content, and stiffness might underpin improvements in performance observed following conditioning activities. There is also evidence of H-reflex potentiation a few minutes following such activities, which is preceded by short-term inhibition of H-reflex and corticospinal excitability during the PAP window, suggesting that these neural adaptations occur to compensate the heightened physiological state of the muscle. Further comprehension of these mechanisms might assist in expanding the knowledge on the factors that moderate responsiveness to PAPE. Furthermore, the number of studies investigating PAPE in applied settings is proportionally small compared to the number of studies investigating PAPE in isolated motor actions such as jumps and explosive contractions of isolated muscle groups. Therefore, the goals of the current research topic are: i) to further expand the knowledge on PAPE applied to human performance; ii) to better elucidate the mechanisms underpinning PAPE, and not PAP.
The greater scope of this research topic is the application of the PAPE phenomenon in sports-related contexts. Authors should feel encouraged to contribute with manuscripts (original researches, clinical trials, case reports, brief research reports, perspectives, mini reviews, reviews, and systematic reviews) investigating:
• The application of PAPE to enhance human performance in applied ecological settings
• Mechanisms underpinning improvements in voluntary performance following pre-conditioning activities
• The chronic effects of implementing PAPE-related strategies during explosive training sessions (i.e., complex training)
• PAPE-inducing protocols and responsivity to them in athletes and trained populations
Although similar in name and methodological approach, PAPE differs from post-activation potentiation (PAP) as the first is related to voluntary performance whereas the second is determined using evoked contractions. Original investigations aiming to determine the mechanisms underlying PAP are abundant while studies targeting mechanisms directly associated with PAPE are scarce. It has been suggested that increased muscle temperature, water content, and stiffness might underpin improvements in performance observed following conditioning activities. There is also evidence of H-reflex potentiation a few minutes following such activities, which is preceded by short-term inhibition of H-reflex and corticospinal excitability during the PAP window, suggesting that these neural adaptations occur to compensate the heightened physiological state of the muscle. Further comprehension of these mechanisms might assist in expanding the knowledge on the factors that moderate responsiveness to PAPE. Furthermore, the number of studies investigating PAPE in applied settings is proportionally small compared to the number of studies investigating PAPE in isolated motor actions such as jumps and explosive contractions of isolated muscle groups. Therefore, the goals of the current research topic are: i) to further expand the knowledge on PAPE applied to human performance; ii) to better elucidate the mechanisms underpinning PAPE, and not PAP.
The greater scope of this research topic is the application of the PAPE phenomenon in sports-related contexts. Authors should feel encouraged to contribute with manuscripts (original researches, clinical trials, case reports, brief research reports, perspectives, mini reviews, reviews, and systematic reviews) investigating:
• The application of PAPE to enhance human performance in applied ecological settings
• Mechanisms underpinning improvements in voluntary performance following pre-conditioning activities
• The chronic effects of implementing PAPE-related strategies during explosive training sessions (i.e., complex training)
• PAPE-inducing protocols and responsivity to them in athletes and trained populations
Keywords: post-activation performance enhancement, pre-activation, performance in sports, priming, exercise-induced ergogenic effect
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