Post Activation Potentiation Health, Medicine Article Critique

Post Activation Potentiation
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Post Activation Potentiation
Post Activation Potentiation is a notion that assumes the contraction history of certain muscles influences the mechanical output of the successive muscle contraction. Fatiguing contractions may reduce performance but non-fatiguing muscle contractions may enhance the overall performance. Thus PAP can be said to be the increment in muscle strength and the rate of development that results from initial muscle activation. This essay purposes to critique the mechanism of Post Activation Potentiation in advanced resistance training.
There are two main theories for Post Activation Mechanism. The first theory is that muscle contraction that results from training alters the components of myosin head thus guaranteeing increased sensitivity of myosin head to ions released by the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The second theory is that, intense training before any physical exercise increases synaptic excitation within the spine which results to increased post-synaptic potential. Although the evidence available supports the utilization of training, there is also sufficient evidence to support otherwise. Based on the theoretical conclusion of PAP, some people began using the concept in training athletes. The renowned researcher, Sale argued that PAP is actually a muscle phenomenon instead of something that can be used to aid athletes (Blazevich and Babault, 2019). He also claimed that PAP was more of an observation and had no concrete foundation when thoroughly inspected. However, previous studies indicate that repeated exposure to intricate field training increased sprint performance of fit rugby players. Additionally, it also increased, counter movement jump, squat jump, medicine ball throw and the Abalakov agility test in uninjured basketball players. Basic and extreme training schedules have been compared time and again in basketball player’s ability to do push-pass. Some authors suggest that intense training is needed for a player to experience the potentiation effect. This theory is supported by the fact that 70% of the players who go through rigorous training easily archive this feat.
Clearly, there is not enough research to handle all the variables of PAP and its implication on athletes. Furthermore, people are not whether integrating PAP into the training schedule of a healing athlete will enhance their performance. The health status of a person is a variable and in this case, the presence of injuries affects the final outcome of the experiment. The challenge faced by the physical therapist is in determining how intense or how mild the training session has to be. Determining 1 RM in a recovering athlete is often hard because one misstep can result to additional injuries to a recovering athlete. Therefore, an estimate of 1 RM or 6 RM may be appropriate. For the physical therapist training the recuperating athlete, the PAP concept should be suitably tested during their functional training (McLaren, n.d.). The therapist should engage the patient in high load leg presses in the early stages of the training and then use polymeric exercises in the end so as to completely make adequate use of PAP. One could use high energy activities bef...