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Self-selecting the number of repetitions in potentiation protocols enhances jumping performance
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Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is a well-described phenomenon with a short half-life (~28 s) that enhances muscle force production at submaximal levels of calcium saturation (i.e., submaximal levels of muscle activation). It has been largely explained by an increased myosin light chain phosphorylation occurring in type II muscle fibers, and its effects have been quantified in humans by measuring muscle twitch force responses to a bout of muscular activity. However, enhancements in (sometimes maximal) voluntary force production detected several minutes after high-intensity muscle contractions are also observed, which are also most prominent in muscles with a high proportion of type II fibers. This effect has been considered to reflect PAP. Nonetheless, the time course of myosin light chain phosphorylation (underpinning “classic” PAP) rarely matches that of voluntary force enhancement and, unlike PAP, changes in muscle temperature, muscle/cellular water content, and muscle activation may at least partly underpin voluntary force enhancement; this enhancement has thus recently been called post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) to distinguish it from “classical” PAP. In fact, since PAPE is often undetectable at time points where PAP is maximal (or substantial), some researchers have questioned whether PAP contributes to PAPE under most conditions in vivo in humans. Equally, minimal evidence has been presented that PAP is of significant practical importance in cases where multiple physiological processes have already been upregulated by a preceding, comprehensive, active muscle warm-up. Given that confusion exists with respect to the mechanisms leading to acute enhancement of both electrically evoked (twitch force; PAP) and voluntary (PAPE) muscle function in humans after acute muscle activity, the first purpose of the present narrative review is to recount the history of PAP/PAPE research to locate definitions and determine whether they are the same phenomena. To further investigate the possibility of these phenomena being distinct as well as to better understand their potential functional benefits, possible mechanisms underpinning their effects will be examined in detail. Finally, research design issues will be addressed which might contribute to confusion relating to PAP/PAPE effects, before the contexts in which these phenomena may (or may not) benefit voluntary muscle function are considered.
Purpose:
To compare the effects of 2 postactivation potentiation (PAP) protocols using traditional-set or cluster-set configurations on countermovement jump performance.
Methods:
Twenty-six male basketball players completed 3 testing sessions separated by 72 hours. On the first session, subjects performed barbell jump squats with progressively heavier loads to determine their individual optimum power load. On the second and third sessions, subjects completed 2 PAP protocols in a randomized order: 3 sets of 6 repetitions of jump squats using optimum power load performed with either a traditional-set (no interrepetition rest) or a cluster-set (20-s rest every 2 repetitions) configuration. After a warm-up, countermovement jump height was measured using a force platform before, 30 seconds, 4 minutes, and 8 minutes after completing the PAP protocols. The following kinetic variables were also analyzed and compared: relative impulse, ground reaction force, eccentric displacement, and vertical leg-spring stiffness.
Results:
Across both conditions, subjects jumped lower at post 30 seconds by 1.21 cm, and higher in post 4 minutes by 2.21 cm, and in post 8 minutes by 2.60 cm compared with baseline. However, subjects jumped higher in the cluster condition by 0.71 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.37 to 1.05 cm) in post 30 seconds, 1.33 cm (95% confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.65 cm) in post 4 minute, and 1.64 cm (95% confidence interval, 1.41 to 1.88 cm) in post 8 minutes. The superior countermovement jump performance was associated with enhanced kinetic data.
Conclusions:
Both protocols induced PAP responses in vertical jump performance using jump squats at optimum power load. However, the cluster-set configuration led to superior performance across all time points, likely due to reduced muscular fatigue.
This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of two barbell hip thrust-based post-activation potentiation (PAP) protocols on subsequent sprint performance. Using a crossover design, eighteen soccer athletes performed 5 m, 10 m, and 20 m sprints before and 15 s, 4 min, and 8 min after two PAP protocols. The PAP conditioning activities consisted of hip thrust exercises loaded with either 85% 1RM or a load for optimum power development. The resulting 5 m and 10 m sprint performances were impaired at 15 s following both protocols. At 4 min and 8 min, meaningful improvements were observed for the three sprint distances following both of the protocols. Meaningful differences were found when comparing the two PAPs over time: greater impairments in 5 m and 10 m following the 85% of 1 RM protocol after 15 s, and greater improvements in all sprint distances after 4 min and 8 min following the optimum power development protocol. Positive correlations between the hip thrust's 1RM and power values and the overall individual PAP responses were found. This investigation showed that both heavy-loaded and optimum-power hip thrust exercises can induce a PAP response, with the optimum-power development protocol preferred due its higher efficiency.
Supporting athletes’ need for autonomy, by allowing them to make choices concerning one or more training variables, can be used as an effective coaching strategy by strength and conditioning (S&C) professionals. However, this coaching strategy has received little attention in the S&C field, despite being extensively studied in the fields of sport psychology and motor learning. Autonomy support has been shown to improve motor learning, performance, and adherence. In this review, the positive effects of providing choices are discussed as they apply to athletes and S&C professionals. Moreover, possible mechanisms for these effects are described and practical recommendations are provided.
While self-controlled practice has been shown to enhance motor learning with various populations and novel tasks, it remains unclear if such effects would be found with athletes completing familiar tasks. Study 1 used a single case-study design with a world-champion kickboxer. We investigated whether giving the athlete a choice over the order of punches would affect punching velocity and impact force. Separated by 1 minute of rest, the athlete completed 2 rounds of 12 single, maximal effort punches (lead straight, rear straight, lead hook & rear hook) delivered to a punching integrator in a counterbalanced order over 6 testing days. In one round the punches were delivered in a predetermined order while in the second round the order was self-selected by the athlete. In the choice condition, the world-champion punched with greater velocities (6-11%) and impact forces (5-10%). In Study 2, the same testing procedures were repeated with 13 amateur male kickboxers over 2 testing days. Similar to Study 1, the athletes punched with significantly greater velocities (6%, p< 0.05) and normalized impact forces (2%, p< 0.05) in the choice condition. These findings complement research on autonomy support in motor learning by demonstrating immediate advantages in force production and velocity with experienced athletes.
This study aimed to assess the chronic effects of vertical and horizontal drop-jumpbased
protocols on neuromuscular explosive abilities such as jumping, sprinting, and
change of direction (COD). Eighteen elite male handball players (age 23.4 ± 4.6 years;
height 192.5 ± 3.7 cm; weight 87.8 ± 7.4 kg) were assigned to either vertical drop jump
(VDJ) or horizontal drop jump (HDJ) group training twice a week for 10 weeks.
Participants performed 5-8 sets × 6-10 repetitions of vertical-alternate (VDJ) or
horizontal-alternate (HDJ) one-leg drop-jumps, landing from the top of a platform 25 cm
in height. Before and after training, several performance, kinetic and kinematic
variables were assessed. The HDJ led to greater improvement of the sprint-time (-
8.5% vs. -4%; p<0.05) and COD performance in comparison with the VDJ (-7.9% vs. -
1.1%; p<0.05), while the VDJ caused greater improvement in the vertical jump
compared with the HDJ (+8.6% vs. +4.1%; p<0.05). Moreover, the VDJ regimen
compared with the HDJ, induced greater changes in the kinetic variables associated
with vertical jumping performance, such as peak ground reaction forces (+10.3% vs.
+4.3%), relative impulse (+12.4% vs. +5.7%), leg-spring stiffness (+17.6% vs. +4.6%),
contact time (-10.1% vs. -1.5%), and reactive strength index (+7.2% vs. +2.1%); all
comparisons with p<0.05. Conversely, the HDJ regimen was able to improve the shortdistance
and COD performances by increasing the step length (+3.5% vs. +1.5% with
p<0.05) and reducing the contact time on COD (-12.1% vs. -2.1% with p<0.05) more
than the VDJ. This investigation showed the crucial role that specific plyometric
regimens play in optimizing similar biomechanical featured functional performances
such as jumping, sprinting and COD.
This study aimed to assess the acute effects of vertical and horizontal drop-jump-based post activation potentiation (PAP) protocols on neuromuscular abilities in tasks such as jumping, sprinting, and change of direction (COD). Eighteen handball players were assessed before and after PAP regimens, consisting of either vertical (VDJ) or horizontal (HDJ) single-leg drop-jumps, on countermovement jump (CMJ), linear sprint, shuttle sprint, and agility performance. The HDJ led to greater improvement of the COD performance in comparison with the VDJ (-6.8% vs. -1.3%; p<0.05), while the VDJ caused greater improvement in the CMJ task compared with the HDJs (+6.5% vs. +1%; p<0.05). Moreover, the VDJ regimens compared with HDJ induced greater changes in most of the kinetic variables associated with vertical jumping performance, such as peak ground reaction forces (+9.6% vs. +1.3%), vertical displacement (-13.4% vs. -5.3%), leg-spring stiffness (+18.6% vs. +3.6%) contact time (-9.2% vs. -1.3%), and reactive strength index (+7.3% vs. +2.4%) (all comparisons with p<0.05). Conversely, the HDJ regimens were able to improve the COD performance only by reducing the contact time on COD more than the VDJ (-13.3% vs. -2.4% with p<0.05). The results showed that both PAPs were able to improve the performances that specifically featured similar force-orientation production. This investigation showed the crucial role that different and specific PAP regimens play in optimizing related functional performances. Specifically-oriented vertical and horizontal single-leg drop-jump protocols represent viable means for achieving enhanced explosive-based tasks such as jumping and COD.
Background
Although post-activation potentiation (PAP) has been extensively examined following the completion of a conditioning activity (CA), the precise effects on subsequent jump, sprint, throw, and upper-body ballistic performances and the factors modulating these effects have yet to be determined. Moreover, weaker and stronger individuals seem to exhibit different PAP responses; however, how they respond to the different components of a strength–power–potentiation complex remains to be elucidated.
Objectives
This meta-analysis determined (1) the effect of performing a CA on subsequent jump, sprint, throw, and upper-body ballistic performances; (2) the influence of different types of CA, squat depths during the CA, rest intervals, volumes of CA, and loads during the CA on PAP; and (3) how individuals of different strength levels respond to these various strength–power–potentiation complex components.
Methods
A computerized search was conducted in ADONIS, ERIC, SPORTDiscus, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, and PubMed databases up to March 2015. The analysis comprised 47 studies and 135 groups of participants for a total of 1954 participants.
Results
The PAP effect is small for jump (effect size [ES] = 0.29), throw (ES = 0.26), and upper-body ballistic (ES = 0.23) performance activities, and moderate for sprint (ES = 0.51) performance activity. A larger PAP effect is observed among stronger individuals and those with more experience in resistance training. Plyometric (ES = 0.47) CAs induce a slightly larger PAP effect than traditional high-intensity (ES = 0.41), traditional moderate-intensity (ES = 0.19), and maximal isometric (ES = –0.09) CAs, and a greater effect after shallower (ES = 0.58) versus deeper (ES = 0.25) squat CAs, longer (ES = 0.44 and 0.49) versus shorter (ES = 0.17) recovery intervals, multiple- (ES = 0.69) versus single- (ES = 0.24) set CAs, and repetition maximum (RM) (ES = 0.51) versus sub-maximal (ES = 0.34) loads during the CA. It is noteworthy that a greater PAP effect can be realized earlier after a plyometric CA than with traditional high- and moderate-intensity CAs. Additionally, shorter recovery intervals, single-set CAs, and RM CAs are more effective at inducing PAP in stronger individuals, while weaker individuals respond better to longer recovery intervals, multiple-set CAs, and sub-maximal CAs. Finally, both weaker and stronger individuals express greater PAP after shallower squat CAs.
Conclusions
Performing a CA elicits small PAP effects for jump, throw, and upper-body ballistic performance activities, and a moderate effect for sprint performance activity. The level of potentiation is dependent on the individual’s level of strength and resistance training experience, the type of CA, the depth of the squat when this exercise is employed to elicit PAP, the rest period between the CA and subsequent performance, the number of set(s) of the CA, and the type of load used during the CA. Finally, some components of the strength–power–potentiation complex modulate the PAP response of weaker and stronger individuals in a different way.
The jump squat is one of the exercises most frequently used to improve lower body power production, which influences sports performance. However, the traditional determination of the specific workload at which power production is maximized (i.e., optimum power load) is time-consuming and requires one-repetition maximum tests. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify whether elite athletes from different sports would produce maximum mean propulsive power values at a narrow range of mean propulsive velocities, resulting in similar jump heights. One hundred and nine elite athletes from several individual/team sport disciplines underwent repetitions at maximal velocity with progressive loads, starting at 40% of their body mass with increments of 10% to determine the individual optimum power zone. Results indicated that regardless of sport discipline, the athletes’ optimum mean propulsive power was achieved at a mean propulsive velocity close to 1.0 m.s-1 (1.01 ± 0.07 m.s-1) and at a jump height close to 20 cm (20.47 ± 1.42 cm). Data were narrowly scattered around these values. Therefore, jump squat optimum power load can be determined simply by means of mean propulsive velocity or jump height determination in training/testing settings, allowing it to be implemented quickly in strength/power training.
Statistics are tools to help end users accomplish their task. In research, to be qualified as usable, statistical tools should help researchers advance scientific knowledge by supporting and promoting the effective communication of research findings. Yet areas such as human-computer interaction (HCI) have adopted tools — i.e., p-values and dichotomous testing procedures— that have proven to be poor at supporting these tasks. The abusive use of these procedures has been severely criticized in a range of disciplines for several decades, suggesting that tools should be blamed, not end users. This chapter explains in a non-technical manner why it would be beneficial for HCI to switch to an estimation approach, i.e., reporting informative charts with effect sizes and interval estimates, and offering nuanced interpretations of our results. Advice is offered on how to communicate our empirical results in a clear, accurate, and transparent way without using any tests or p-values.
Numerous studies in the motor learning domain have demonstrated learning advantages of self-controlled practice relative to yoked conditions. In separate lines of evidence in the social-psychological literature, findings show that providing participants with task-relevant autonomy support or minor incidental choices can result in superior outcomes when compared with conditions that thwart autonomy or do not offer choice. We hypothesized that motor learning could be enhanced by providing learners with choices – even if those
choices are unrelated to task performance. In Experiment 1, two groups of participants practiced a golf putting task. While one group (the choice group) was able to select the color of golf balls (white, yellow, or orange) to be used in each upcoming block of 10 trials, participants in the second group (the yoked group) were provided with the same colored golf balls their choice-group counterparts had chosen. The results of a 24-h delayed retention test indicated significantly greater putting accuracy for the choice compared with the yoked group. Experiment 2 went one step further by asking choice group participants for their preferences regarding two issues unrelated to the practice task (balancing on a stabilometer): (1) which of two subsequent tasks (coincident timing or hand dynamometry) they wanted to perform and (2) which of two prints of paintings by Renoir they thought the investigator should hangon the laboratory wall. Yoked group participants were simply informed about which task theywould perform afterwards and of which painting the experimenter would put on the wall. Balance learning was significantly more effective in the choice group on a retention test. Thus, self-controlled practice conditions can influence motor learning without providing task-relevant information, content, or strategic learning advantages. Self-controlled effects in motor learning may be motivational in nature, attributable to satisfaction of fundamental autonomy needs.
Wilson, JM, Duncan, NM, Marin, PJ, Brown, LE, Loenneke, JP, Wilson, SMC, Jo, E, Lowery, RP, and Ugrinowitsch, C. Meta-analysis of postactivation potentiation and power: Effects of conditioning activity, volume, gender, rest periods, and training status. J Strength Cond Res 27(3): 854–859, 2013—There is no clear agreement regarding the ideal combination of factors needed to optimize postactivation potentiation (PAP) after a conditioning activity. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effects of training status, volume, rest period length, conditioning activity, and gender on power augmentation due to PAP. A total of 141 effect sizes (ESs) for muscular power were obtained from a total of 32 primary studies, which met our criteria of investigating the effects of a heavy preconditioning activity on power in randomized human trials. The mean overall ES for muscle power was 0.38 after a conditioning activity (p < 0.05). Significant differences were found between moderate intensity (60–84%) 1.06 and heavy intensity (>85%) 0.31 (p < 0.05). There were overall significant differences found between single sets 0.24 and multiple sets 0.66 (p < 0.05). Rest periods of 7–10 minutes (0.7) after a conditioning activity resulted in greater ES than 3–7 minutes (0.54), which was greater than rest periods of >10 minutes (0.02) (p < 0.05). Significant differences were found between untrained 0.14 and athletes 0.81 and between trained 0.29 and athletes. The primary findings of this study were that a conditioning activity augmented power output, and these effects increased with training experience, but did not differ significantly between genders. Moreover, potentiation was optimal after multiple (vs. single) sets, performed at moderate intensities, and using moderate rest periods lengths (7–10 minutes).
The purpose of the present review was to provide a theoretical understanding of the learning advantages underlying a self-controlled practice context through the tenets of the self-determination theory (SDT). Three micro-theories within the macro-theory of SDT (Basic psychological needs theory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory, and Organismic Integration Theory) are used as a framework for examining the current self-controlled motor learning literature. A review of 26 peer-reviewed, empirical studies from the motor learning and medical training literature revealed an important limitation of the self-controlled research in motor learning: that the effects of motivation have been assumed rather than quantified. The SDT offers a basis from which to include measurements of motivation into explanations of changes in behavior. This review suggests that a self-controlled practice context can facilitate such factors as feelings of autonomy and competence of the learner, thereby supporting the psychological needs of the learner, leading to long term changes to behavior. Possible tools for the measurement of motivation and regulation in future studies are discussed. The SDT not only allows for a theoretical reinterpretation of the extant motor learning research supporting self-control as a learning variable, but also can help to better understand and measure the changes occurring between the practice environment and the observed behavioral outcomes.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of different methods to calculate vertical jump height in men and women. Fifty men and 50 women performed three countermovement vertical jumps for maximal height on a force platform, the highest of which was used in the statistical analyses. The peak displacement attained by the center of mass (COM) during flight was obtained from three different calculations: (1) using the time in the air (TIA), (2) using the vertical velocity of the COM at take-off (TOV), and (3) adding the positive vertical displacement of the COM prior to take-off to the height calculated using TOV (TOV+s). With all calculations, men produced significantly greater jump heights than women (p < 0.05). TIA produced significantly greater jump heights than TOV in men and women, while TOV+s produced significantly greater jump heights than both TIA and TOV in men and women (p < 0.05). Despite these differences, the methods produced consistent results for both men and women. All calculation methods have logical validity, depending upon the definition of jump height used. Therefore, the method used to calculate jump height should be determined by the equipment available to the practitioner while giving consideration to the sources of error inherent in each method. Based upon the present findings, when using a force platform to calculate vertical jump height, practitioners are encouraged to use the TOV method.
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Motivation is a critical factor in supporting sustained exercise, which in turn is associated with important health outcomes. Accordingly, research on exercise motivation from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT) has grown considerably in recent years. Previous reviews have been mostly narrative and theoretical. Aiming at a more comprehensive review of empirical data, this article examines the empirical literature on the relations between key SDT-based constructs and exercise and physical activity behavioral outcomes.
This systematic review includes 66 empirical studies published up to June 2011, including experimental, cross-sectional, and prospective studies that have measured exercise causality orientations, autonomy/need support and need satisfaction, exercise motives (or goal contents), and exercise self-regulations and motivation. We also studied SDT-based interventions aimed at increasing exercise behavior. In all studies, actual or self-reported exercise/physical activity, including attendance, was analyzed as the dependent variable. Findings are summarized based on quantitative analysis of the evidence.
The results show consistent support for a positive relation between more autonomous forms of motivation and exercise, with a trend towards identified regulation predicting initial/short-term adoption more strongly than intrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation being more predictive of long-term exercise adherence. The literature is also consistent in that competence satisfaction and more intrinsic motives positively predict exercise participation across a range of samples and settings. Mixed evidence was found concerning the role of other types of motives (e.g., health/fitness and body-related), and also the specific nature and consequences of introjected regulation. The majority of studies have employed descriptive (i.e., non-experimental) designs but similar results are found across cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental designs.
Overall, the literature provides good evidence for the value of SDT in understanding exercise behavior, demonstrating the importance of autonomous (identified and intrinsic) regulations in fostering physical activity. Nevertheless, there remain some inconsistencies and mixed evidence with regard to the relations between specific SDT constructs and exercise. Particular limitations concerning the different associations explored in the literature are discussed in the context of refining the application of SDT to exercise and physical activity promotion, and integrating these with avenues for future research.
Post-activation potentiation (PAP) is induced by a voluntary conditioning contraction (CC), performed typically at a maximal or near-maximal intensity, and has consistently been shown to increase both peak force and rate of force development during subsequent twitch contractions. The proposed mechanisms underlying PAP are associated with phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains, increased recruitment of higher order motor units, and a possible change in pennation angle. If PAP could be induced by a CC in humans, and utilized during a subsequent explosive activity (e.g. jump or sprint), it could potentially enhance mechanical power and thus performance and/or the training stimulus of that activity. However, the CC might also induce fatigue, and it is the balance between PAP and fatigue that will determine the net effect on performance of a subsequent explosive activity. The PAP-fatigue relationship is affected by several variables including CC volume and intensity, recovery period following the CC, type of CC, type of subsequent activity, and subject characteristics. These variables have not been standardized across past research, and as a result, evidence of the effects of CC on performance of subsequent explosive activities is equivocal. In order to better inform and direct future research on this topic, this article will highlight and discuss the key variables that may be responsible for the contrasting results observed in the current literature. Future research should aim to better understand the effect of different conditions on the interaction between PAP and fatigue, with an aim of establishing the specific application (if any) of PAP to sport.
A meta-analysis of 41 studies examined the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes in a variety of settings with both child and adult samples. Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes. Moderator tests revealed the effect of choice on intrinsic motivation was stronger (a) for instructionally irrelevant choices compared to choices made between activities, versions of a task, rewards, and instructionally relevant options, (b) when 2 to 4 successive choices were given, (c) when rewards were not given after the choice manipulation, (d) when participants given choice were compared to the most controlling forms of control groups, (e) for children compared to adults, (f) for designs that yoked choice and control conditions compared to matched designs in which choice was reduced or designs in which nonyoked, nonmatched controls were used, and (g) when the experiment was conducted in a laboratory embedded in a natural setting. Implications for future research and applications to real-world settings are discussed.
The authors examined several issues related to the motor learning benefits resulting from giving learners choices. In 2 experiments, participants practiced a novel task, throwing a lasso. In Experiment 1, giving learners a choice ostensibly irrelevant to performance (color of mat under target) resulted in enhanced learning relative to a control group. The choice group also reported more positive affect. Experiment 2 compared the effectiveness of task-irrelevant (mat color) versus task-relevant (video demonstrations of the skill) choices. In both choice groups, each participant was yoked to a participant in the other group, and each received the same mat color or saw the video demonstration, respectively, as chosen by their counterpart in the other group. In the control group, participants were yoked to their respective counterparts in each of the choice groups. On a retention test, the 2 choice groups did not differ from each other, but both outperformed the control group. The affective and learning effects seen when learners are given choices, and the fact that task-relevant and task-irrelevant choices resulted in similar learning benefits, are consistent with a content-neutral mechanism for the effects of choice on learning, as described in the OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016).
This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of two barbell hip thrust-based (BHT) post-activation potentiation (PAP) protocols on subsequent sprint performance. Using a crossover design, eighteen handball athletes performed maximal 15-m sprints before and 15s, 4min and 8min after two experimental protocols consisting of BHT loaded with either 50% or 85% 1RM (50PAP and 85PAP, respectively), in order to profile the transient PAP effects. The resulting sprint performances were significantly impaired at 15s only after the 85PAP protocol, which induced likely and very likely greater decreases compared to the 50PAP. At 4min and 8min, significant improvements and very likely beneficial effects were observed in the 10m and 15m performances following both protocols. Significant differences were found when comparing the two PAPs over time; the results suggested very likely greater performance improvements in 10m following the 85PAP after 4min and 8min, and possible greater performance improvements in 15m after 4min. Positive correlations between BHT 1RMs values and the greatest individual PAP responses on sprint performance were found. This investigation showed that both moderate and intensive BHT exercises can induce a PAP response, but the effects may differ according to the recovery following the potentiating stimulus and the individual`s strength level.
Feedback is commonly employed to enhance motor learning and performance. While numerous studies have investigated the causal effects of feedback on motor learning, an analysis of real-time feedback provided during training and competitive sporting environments is lacking. Therefore, the feedback provided by 12 boxing coaches to athletes between rounds of the 2015 Australian Boxing Championships was recorded and transcribed. The feedback statements were then analyzed according to three feedback variables that have been shown to be critical for optimizing performance: Attentional focus (external, internal, neutral), autonomy support (autonomy-supportive, controlling, neutral), and feedback valence (positive, negative, neutral). Collectively, 445 feedback statements provided during 25 bouts, of which 14 were won and 11 were lost, were analysed for each of the three categories. Coaches provided on average 8 feedback statements per round. Excluding neutral statements, coaches delivered more internal (15%) compared with external focus feedback (6%), more controlling (53%) compared with autonomy-supportive feedback (6%), and more positive (29%) relative to negative feedback (12%). Furthermore, during winning bouts coaches delivered less internal (12% vs. 19%), less controlling (48% vs. 58%), and more positive (36% vs. 18%) feedback, when compared with losing bouts. These results demonstrate for the first time the type and frequency of feedback delivered during amateur boxing bouts. While these findings may or may not reflect causal relationships, it is interesting that feedback that has been found to enhance motor performance was more often used during winning rather than losing bouts.
Effective motor performance is important for surviving and thriving, and skilled movement is critical in many activities. Much theorizing over the last few decades has focused on how certain practice conditions affect the processing of task-related information to affect learning. Yet, existing theoretical perspectives do not accommodate significant recent lines of evidence demonstrating motivational and attentional effects on performance and learning. These include research on (a) conditions that enhance expectancies for future performance, (b) variables that influence learners’ autonomy, and (c) an external focus of attention on the intended movement effect. Here we propose the OPTIMAL (Optimizing Performance through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning) theory of motor learning. We suggest that motivational and attentional factors contribute to performance and learning by strengthening the coupling of goals to actions. We provide explanations for the performance and learning advantages of these variables on psychological and neuroscientific grounds. We describe a plausible mechanism for expectancy effects rooted in responses of dopamine to the anticipation of positive experience and temporally associated with skill practice. Learner autonomy acts perhaps largely through an enhanced expectancy pathway. Further, we consider the influence of an external focus for the establishment of efficient functional connections across brain networks that subserve skilled movement. We speculate that enhanced expectancies and an external focus propel performers’ cognitive and motor systems in productive “forward” directions and prevent “backsliding” into self- and non-task focused states. Expected success presumably breeds further success and helps consolidate memories. We discuss practical implications and future research directions.
Over the past 15 years, research on focus of attention has consistently demonstrated that an external focus (i.e., on the movement effect) enhances motor performance and learning relative to an internal focus (i.e., on body movements). This article provides a comprehensive review of the extant literature. Findings show that the performance and learning advantages through instructions or feedback inducing an external focus extend across different types of tasks, skill levels, and age groups. Benefits are seen in movement effectiveness (e.g., accuracy, consistency, balance) as well as efficiency (e.g., muscular activity, force production, cardiovascular responses). Methodological issues that have arisen in the literature are discussed. Finally, our current understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the attentional focus effect is outlined, and directions for future research are suggested.
We need to make substantial changes to how we conduct research. First, in response to heightened concern that our published research literature is incomplete and untrustworthy, we need new requirements to ensure research integrity. These include prespecification of studies whenever possible, avoidance of selection and other inappropriate data-analytic practices, complete reporting, and encouragement of replication. Second, in response to renewed recognition of the severe flaws of null-hypothesis significance testing (NHST), we need to shift from reliance on NHST to estimation and other preferred techniques. The new statistics refers to recommended practices, including estimation based on effect sizes, confidence intervals, and meta-analysis. The techniques are not new, but adopting them widely would be new for many researchers, as well as highly beneficial. This article explains why the new statistics are important and offers guidance for their use. It describes an eight-step new-statistics strategy for research with integrity, which starts with formulation of research questions in estimation terms, has no place for NHST, and is aimed at building a cumulative quantitative discipline.
This paper advocates the use of nonparametric statistics. First, the consequence of using parametric inferential techniques under nonnormality is described. Second, the advantages of using nonparametric techniques are presented. The third purpose is to demonstrate empirically how infrequently nonparametric statistics appear in studies, even those published in the most reputable journals. Fourth, a typology of nonparametric statistics is presented for all univariate general linear model analyses. The nonparametric statistics that are available in the most commonly used statistical software are delineated, and finally, nonparametric effect size indices are outlined. (Contains 1 table and 52 references.) (Author/SLD)
Research suggests that the exercise of control is desirable and adaptive, but the precise mechanisms underlying the affective value of control are not well understood. The study reported here characterized the affective experience of personal control by examining the neural substrates recruited when individuals anticipate the opportunity to make a choice--in other words, when they anticipate the means for exercising control. We used an experimental paradigm that probed the value of having a choice. Participants reported liking cues that predicted a future opportunity to make a choice more than cues that predicted no choice. The anticipation of choice itself was associated with increased activity in corticostriatal regions, particularly the ventral striatum, involved in affective and motivational processes. This study is the first direct examination of the affective value of having the opportunity to choose. These findings have important implications for understanding the role of perception of control, and choice itself, in self-regulatory processes.
This study evaluated exercise-related predictors of successful long-term weight control in women by analyzing the extent to which sustained exercise participation and self-determination theory (SDT)-based exercise motivation variables mediated the impact of a behavioral weight control intervention on 3-yr weight change.
Longitudinal randomized controlled trial consisting of a 1-yr SDT-based intervention and a 2-yr follow-up with 221 female participants (means ± SD: age = 37.6 ± 7 yr, body mass index = 31.6 ± 4.1 kg·m(-2)). The tested model incorporated experimentally manipulated perceived need support, motivational regulations, and 2-yr exercise adherence as mediators of the intervention's impact on 3-yr weight change. Paths were tested using partial least squares analysis. Where there were significant intervening paths, tests of mediation were conducted.
Treatment had significant effects on 1- and 2-yr autonomous regulations, 2-yr physical activity, and 3-yr weight change, fully mediated by the tested paths (effect ratio = 0.10-0.61). Moderate and vigorous exercise at 2 yr had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on weight loss success at 3 yr and partially mediated the effect of treatment on weight change. The 2-yr autonomous regulation effects on follow-up weight change were only partially mediated by physical activity (effect ratio = 0.42).
This application of SDT to physical activity and weight management showed that not all types of motivation predict long-term behavioral outcomes and that sustained moderate and vigorous exercise mediated long-term weight change. It provides strong evidence for a link between experimentally increased autonomous motivation and exercise and long-term weight loss maintenance. Results highlight the importance of interventions targeting the internalization of exercise behavioral regulation and making exercise and physical activity positive and meaningful experiences rather than simply focusing on immediate behavior change in overweight/obese women.
1. In a recent review article, the problem of making false- positive inferences as a result of making multiple comparisons between groups of experimental units or between experimental outcomes was addressed.
2. It was concluded that the most universally applicable solution was to use the Ryan–Holm step-down Bonferroni procedure to control the family-wise (experiment-wise) type 1 error rate. This procedure consists of adjusting the P values resulting from hypothesis testing. It allows for correlation among hypotheses and has been validated by Monte Carlo simulation. It is a simple procedure and can be performed by hand.
3. However, some investigators prefer to estimate effect sizes and make inferences by way of confidence intervals rather than, or in addition to, testing hypotheses by way of P values and it is the policy of some editors of biomedical journals to insist on this. It is not generally recognized that confidence intervals, like P values, must be adjusted if multiple inferences are made from confidence intervals in a single experiment.
4. In the present review, it is shown how confidence intervals can be adjusted for multiplicity by an extension of the Ryan–Holm step-down Bonferroni procedure. This can be done for differences between group means in the case of continuous variables and for odds ratios or relative risks in the case of categorical variables set out as 2 × 2 tables.
Reliability refers to the reproducibility of values of a test, assay or other measurement in repeated trials on the same individuals. Better reliability implies better precision of single measurements and better tracking of changes in measurements in research or practical settings. The main measures of reliability are within-subject random variation, systematic change in the mean, and retest correlation. A simple, adaptable form of within-subject variation is the typical (standard) error of measurement: the standard deviation of an individual's repeated measurements. For many measurements in sports medicine and science, the typical error is best expressed as a coefficient of variation (percentage of the mean). A biased, more limited form of within-subject variation is the limits of agreement: the 95% likely range of change of an individual's measurements between 2 trials. Systematic changes in the mean of a measure between consecutive trials represent such effects as learning, motivation or fatigue; these changes need to be eliminated from estimates of within-subject variation. Retest correlation is difficult to interpret, mainly because its value is sensitive to the heterogeneity of the sample of participants. Uses of reliability include decision-making when monitoring individuals, comparison of tests or equipment, estimation of sample size in experiments and estimation of the magnitude of individual differences in the response to a treatment. Reasonable precision for estimates of reliability requires approximately 50 study participants and at least 3 trials. Studies aimed at assessing variation in reliability between tests or equipment require complex designs and analyses that researchers seldom perform correctly. A wider understanding of reliability and adoption of the typical error as the standard measure of reliability would improve the assessment of tests and equipment in our disciplines.
The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether performing high force or explosive force movements prior to sprinting would improve running speed. Fifteen NCAA Division III football players performed a heavy-load squat (HS), loaded countermovement jump (LCMJ), or control (C) warm-up condition in a counterbalanced randomized order over the course of 3 weeks. The HS protocol consisted of 1 set of 3 repetitions at 90% of the subject's 1 repetition maximum (1RM). The LCMJ protocol was 1 set of 3 repetitions at 30% of the subject's 1RM. At 4 minutes post-warm-up, subjects completed a timed 40-m dash with time measured at 10, 30, and 40 m. The results of the study indicated that when preceded by a set of HS, subjects ran 0.87% faster (p < or = 0.05) in the 40-m dash (5.35 +/- 0.32 vs. 5.30 +/- 0.34 seconds) in comparison to C. No significant differences were observed in the 10-m or 30-m split times between the 3 conditions. The data from this study suggest that an acute bout of low-volume heavy lifting with the lower body may improve 40-m sprint times, but that loaded countermovement jumps appear to have no significant effect.
Subjects completed three PAPE protocols: traditional, in which the number of repetitions in Mechanisms, and Current Issues
Subjects completed three PAPE protocols: traditional, in which the number of repetitions in
Mechanisms, and Current Issues. Frontiers in Physiology. 2019;10:1359.
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- R Lewthwaite
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