The Use of Self-Selected Interval is not Effective in Eliciting Post-activation Performance Enhancement in Untrained Individuals

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of adopting self-selected interval (SSI) to elicit post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) in untrained individuals and compared it to adopting the best fixed recovery interval (BST). Eleven male participants (age: 21.6 ± 2.1 years; body mass: 76.6 ± 11.1 kg; height: 175 ± 4 cm; 5RM squat load: 108 ± 17 kg) with no experience with strength training participated in three experimental sessions in a randomized order. The three experimental sessions consisted of: (1) a control session (CON), with countermovement jump (CMJ) height assessments performed 4 min before and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min after participants remained seated on a chair without performing any conditioning activity (CA) protocol; (2) a session with fixed recovery interval (FRI), with CMJ height assessment performed 4 min before and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min after a CA consisting of five back squats with a 5 repetition maximum load, and; (3) a session with SSI, with CMJ height assessment performed only once after the CA and participants adopting a SSI based on a readiness scale. No significant differences were found in CMJ performance between baseline (BL) and post-CA in the CON session and in the SSI session. CMJ height in the BST was 4.4% higher than BL value during the FRI session (BL: 31.5 ± 3.1 cm; post: 32.9 ± 2.6 cm, p < 0.05, d = 0.5). Therefore, it is possible to conclude that, although untrained individuals are not able to identify an ideal recovery interval after PA using a readiness scale, they can be responsive to PAPE when adopting a FRI.