ACUTE EFFECTS OF HEAVY-LOAD EXERCISES, STRETCHING EXERCISES, AND HEAVY-LOAD PLUS STRETCHING EXERCISES ON SQUAT JUMP AND COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMP PERFORMANCE

Gonzalez-Rave, JM, Machado, L, Navarro-Valdivielso, F, and Vilas-Boas, JP. Acute effects of heavy-load exercises, stretching exercises, and heavy-load plus stretching exercises on squat jump and countermovement jump performance. J Strength Cond Res 23(2): 472-479, 2009-The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of heavy-load resistance exercises, static stretching exercises, and heavy-load plus static stretching exercises by untrained subjects, and to determine whether these types of exercise have an effect on the performance of squat jumps (SJs) and countermovement jumps (CMJs). Twenty-four men volunteered to participate in this study and were divided into 3 groups: 1 group performed the strength exercises using heavy loads (3 sets of 4 repetitions at 90% of each subject's 1-repetition maximum (1RM), a second group performed the heavy-load resistance plus stretching exercises (3 sets of 4 repetitions at 90% of each subject's 1RM and 3 stretching exercises for 15 seconds each), and a third group performed the static stretching exercises only (3 stretching exercises for 15 seconds each). No significant differences between the groups were seen in vertical jump height, but there were significant differences (p < 0.004) in the mean jump height between sets within the training session without taking the treatment type (group) into consideration. Significant differences (p < 0.001) were seen in the vertical ground-reaction force in CMJs between sets and training in each group, whereas no differences between groups were seen in SJ; nevertheless, there was a tendency toward significant differences between sets (p < 0.09) without considering the treatment type. The data from this study suggest that strength exercises using heavy loads and heavy-load plus stretching exercises did not have a significant effect on the maximal jump height in untrained subjects. Only stretching exercises showed an increase in SJs and CMJs, but these results were not significantly different from all other scores.