Effect of Postactivation Potentiation on Short Sprint Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Short sprint is an important physical ability that determines the success in various sports modalities and may influence different conditioning activities. Postactivation potentiation (PAP) is a conditioning method used in practicing sports, which can result in acute improvements in muscle power and performance by interaction of physiological and neural mechanisms.
The current study aimed at investigating the effect of PAP on a sprint of less than 40 meters.
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on the randomized, controlled studies. The search was conducted in several databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Science Direct) using the following keywords: “Postactivation Potentiation”, “Sprint”, and “Complex Training and Sprint”. The sprint time data (mean and standard deviation) of the selected studies were analyzed using the OpenMeta (Analyst)® program. Data were expressed as weighted mean differences (WMD) between the groups with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The level of significance was P A total of 1859 records were initially identified out of which 15 studies were selected according to the inclusion criteria and included in the current study. The meta-analysis results showed a positive effect of PAP on sprint time in the distance 0 to 10 meter (WMD = -0.031 seconds, 95% CI: -0.050, -0.012, P = 0.001), 11 to 20 meter (WMD = -0.048 seconds, 95% CI: -0.089, -0.007, P = 0.021), 21 to 30 meter (WMD = -0.060 seconds, 95% CI: -0.094, -0.026; P In summary, PAP induced positive effects on short sprint performances.