Impact of activation through bodyweight vs elastic band exercises on jump capacity and dynamic strength

Abstract

The aim was to analyze the effect of two activation protocols based on exercises with bodyweight and elastic bands on the improvement of muscle power. Ten male university students of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (age: 23.1±1.5 years) randomly completed with 48 hours of recovery between sessions, a control situation without warm-up (CON) and a warm-up protocol based in bodyweight (ACA) and elastic band (ACE) exercises. After each protocol, power tests were performed in the squat  and bench press with submaximal load (i.e.,  ~1,00m/s and ~0,79m/s, respectively) and vertical jumps without (SJ) and with countermovement (CMJ), together with a horizontal jump (SHB). Compared to CON, no improvements in strength were observed following ACA and ACE. However, significant improvements (p < 0.05) were obtained in SJ, CMJ, and SHB after ACE, while ACA only improved (p < 0.05) SJ and CMJ. Protocols that use exercises with bodyweight or elastic bands can improve performance in actions without load, but do not improve power at submaximal loads.