Post-Activation Potentation of Trunk Rotational Movement on Punch Power Output in Amateur Bozers

This study aimed to investigate the post-activation potentiation (PAP) effect of a woodchop conditioning activity combined with an elastic resistance band on enhancing punching impact power among fifty-three amateur boxers (age = 21.8 ± 4.7 years). The experimental protocol began with a pretest measuring punch impact power for rear hook, cross-punch, and frontal hook. Subsequently, participants underwent a PAP warm-up, which included a woodchop conditioning activity with an elastic resistance band at a moderate intensity, followed by a 7-minute rest interval. A onegroup pretest-posttest design was utilised to assess changes in impact power before and after the intervention. The data revealed that participants exhibited significantly greater punching impact power after completing the PAP protocol (p < .05). However, effect size (d) was trivial (d < 0.20). The data was then stratified into subgroups based on competitive level (Open-class vs. Development) and Resistance Training (RT) experience (Advanced vs. Novice). Results indicated that although significance difference was found in all three punch variations in the Development group, the effect size remained trivial. In contrast, although the Open-class group only showed significance in both the rear hook and frontal hook, the magnitude of the difference between groups was small in all three punch variations (d = 0.2-0.6). Analysing the data based on RT experience, the Novice group reported a significant difference in all punches with trivial effect sizes. Meanwhile, the Advanced group exhibited significance in the rear hook and frontal hook, but no significance in the cross-punch. Nevertheless, all three punches showed small effect sizes. In summary, the findings suggest that when combined with a woodchop conditioning activity and an elastic resistance band, PAP may lead to improvements in punch performance. Coaches and athletes seeking novel approaches to enhance performance may find this information valuable. However, it's important to note that while participants did punch with greater impact post-PAP, those with greater resistance training experience and of higher competitive level should a greater PAP sensitivity. Further research may be needed to explore the practical significance of these findings.