Effects of conditioning activity mode, rest interval and effort to pause ratio on post-activation performance enhancement in taekwondo: a randomized study

Ibrahim Ouergui; Slaheddine Delleli; Hamdi Messaoudi; Craig Alan Bridge; Hamdi Chtourou; Emerson Franchini; Luca Paolo Ardigò

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1179309

Effects of conditioning activity mode, rest interval and effort to pause ratio on post-activation performance enhancement in taekwondo: a randomized study

Front Physiol. 2023 Jul 12:14:1179309. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1179309. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ibrahim Ouergui^{1

2}, Slaheddine Delleli^{3

4}, Hamdi Messaoudi^{3

4}, Craig Alan Bridge⁵, Hamdi Chtourou^{3

4}, Emerson Franchini⁶, Luca Paolo Ardigò⁷

Affiliations

¹ High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Jendouba, Tunisia.
² Research Unit: Sport Sciences, Health and Movement, UR22JS01, University of Jendouba, El Kef, Tunisia.
³ High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁴ Research Unit Physical Activity, Sport and Health, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia.
⁵ Sports Performance Research Group, Wilson Centre, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.
⁶ Martial Arts and Combat Sports Research Group, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁷ Department of Teacher Education, NLA University College, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

Introduction: The present study assessed the effects of conditioning activities, using different effort-to-pause ratios and rest intervals, on taekwondo physical performance. Methods: Twenty-one athletes (13 males and 8 females) (Mean ± SD; age = 20.4 ± 1.4 years) performed a control (CC) and twelve experimental conditions. Each condition contained a standard warm-up (i.e., CC: running at 9 km/h for 10 min) and conditioning activities comprising plyometrics P) or repeated high-intensity techniques (RT) using 1:6, 1:9 and self-selected rest (SSR) ratios, and two rest intervals (3 and 7 min). Athletes then performed a battery of fitness tests: countermovement jump (CMJ), taekwondo specific agility (TSAT), 10s and multiple frequency speed kick test (FSKT-10s and FSKT-mult, respectively). Results: All of the preloads provided higher performance outputs compared to the control trial (all p < 0.05). For CMJ, 1:6 ratio with 3 min induced lower values with RT compared to P (p = 0.037) and 1:9 ratio using 3 min induced higher values with RT compared to P (p = 0.027). Additionally, 1:6 ratio using 7 min induced higher values with RT compared to P (p = 0.016). For FSKT-10, 3 min using 1:6 induced higher values with P compared to RT, while RT induced higher values with 7 min using 1:6 ratio compared to P (both p < 0.001). Moreover, 3 min using 1:9 ratio induced higher values with P compared to RT (p = 0.034), while RT induced higher values with 1:9 ratio using 7 min compared to P (p < 0.001). Finally, 3 min using SSR ratio induced higher values with RT compared to P (p = 0.034). Conclusion: Plyometrics and RT activities improved performance with plyometrics requiring shorter rest interval to induce potentiation effects compared to RT, which required longer interval.

Keywords: combat sports; expert athletes; expert athletes potentiation; plyometrics; potentiation; repeated techniques.