Eliciting Postactivation Potentiation With Hang Cleans Depends on the Recovery Duration and the Individual's 1 Repetition Maximum Strength

Abstract

Dinsdale, AJ and Bissas, A. Eliciting postactivation potentiation with hang cleans depends on the recovery duration and the individual's 1 repetition maximum strength. J Strength Cond Res 35(7): 1817-1824, 2021-Acutely coupling biomechanically similar resistance exercises (e.g., back squats) with subsequent explosive movements (e.g., countermovement jumps [CMJs]) can elicit an enhancement in explosive force and power production, which is known as postactivation potentiation (PAP). However, limited information exists with regard to the coupling of hang cleans with the CMJ. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the hang clean at eliciting PAP through the systematic appraisal of the implemented recovery interval. Twelve explosively trained male track and field athletes completed 8 randomized protocols. These consisted of a structured warm-up, 3 baseline CMJs performed on a force platform, 3 reps of hang cleans set at 90% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM), a randomized rest, and 3 post-CMJs. The rest intervals were set at 0 (T0), 1 (T1), 2 (T2), 3 (T3), 4 (T4), 5 (T5), and 6 (T6) minutes after completing the hang cleans. A repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that the hang cleans did not elicit PAP, although there were significant (p < 0.05) decreases in jump height (JH) for T0 (-4%), T2 (-3%), and T3 (-3.3%). Interestingly, when splitting the subjects based on absolute 1RM hang clean (above 80 kg = strong and below 80 kg = weak), significant differences (p < 0.05) in JH were observed between the groups at T1 (strong -1.2% and weak +3.8%) and T5 (strong +5.1% and weak -1.9%). Our results suggest that to elicit PAP when using hang-clean protocols, it is important to establish first the function between individual strength levels and recovery duration as this may lead to contrasting optimal performance windows for different explosively trained athletes.