Post Activation Potentiation

Hi gang,

I’ve recently been made aware of studies on PAP rest times. Would like to start an MP family brainstorm!

The MP Strength & Power programs do utilize contrast sets to apply the PAP effect. What these studies have been trying to determine were the appropriate rest times between doing a very heavy lift pattern and an unloaded version of that pattern.

Many of these study papers seem to indicate that at least 1 minute after a heavy lift is when the PAP window starts to open. On the other hand, there is no positive relationship between rest times and the magnitude of PAP effect; meaning longer rest times (up to several minutes) doesn’t tap into more PAP.
The PAP effect is caused by two things: The nervous system excitation, physiological process in cells.

In my experience with MP programs, the rest times for contrast sets have never been a concern. Personally, I’ve always waited on average 30 secs.

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Up to this point, my opinion on PAP are as follows:
1) It affects the nervous system the most as compared to…
2) Physiologically, I think the cellular process is a hard variable to change, but it can! Essentially, it is the energy system of the body. The enzymes and chemical process in the cells determine if you have the energy to produce power, regardless of the nervous system excitation. So, better conditioning and cellular remodeling will allow the PAP effect window to open sooner and maybe longer.
3) That’s not to say a contrast set should have zero rest times between the heavy lift and the speed movement. It depends on the maturity of the athlete’s movements and training.
4) A holistic program will, overtime, develop the various factors that go into power production capabilities. It is the long term. Even if contrast sets may not the suitable for an untrained person, we should not deny the benefits of tapping into the motor nerve recruitment that comes with PAP. The physiological adaptations will come eventually, and the debate over rest times for contrast sets may not be worth it after all.
5) There’s a lot of variables that are hard to keep constant in all those studies. Additionally, the sample size of these studies are FAR too small to make a true determination.

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Disclaimer:
I do not have an academic background in sports science but I have a fairly good grasp of biology and physics.
Nor do I have access to the complete study papers in NSCA and such. I do not normally get too caught up with the science of things, but here’s one that I was encouraged to look into.