Physiological effects of two different postactivation potentiation training loads on power profiles generated during high intensity cycle ergometer exercise

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether postactivation potentiation (PAP) would have any effect on high intensity cycle ergometer performance. Two different squatting exercises of different loads were presented in a random fashion prior to ergometric exercise. Seven male rugby players volunteered to participate in the study. There were no significant differences observed between peak power output (PPO) measurements for all three testing conditions (P > 0.05). There were also no differences recorded between mean power outputs (MPOs) and end power outputs (EPOs) (P > 0.05). The decrease in power output (FI %) also was found to be nonsignificant for all conditions (P > 0.05). The findings of this study indicate that performance of repeated heavy squats prior to a 30-second maximal cycle ergometer exercise did not improve the power profiles recorded and did not induce PAP at the time of testing.