Conley, D. S., Thomas, Y. M., Kern, J. L., Doolittle, B. L. & Evetovich, T. K. (2014). Bench press but not back squat potentiates shot put performance in collegiate athletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46(5), Supplement abstract number 2993.

This study examined the effects of upper versus lower body post-activation potentiation on shot put performance in NCAA Division II collegiate shot-putt throwers (M = 6; F = 4). Ss were randomly assigned to control, bench press, and parallel back-squat protocols. The control protocol involved performing a standard pre-competition warm-up followed by three shot-put throws with two minutes rest between throws. The bench press and parallel back-squat protocols included the standard pre-competition warm-up followed by a warm-up set of eight repetitions of the designated exercise at 50% of a three-repetition maximum. After a two-minute rest, Ss performed a three-repetition maximum of the designated lift followed by eight minutes of rest and three shot-put throws with two minutes of rest between all throws. The best of three shot put throws from each protocol was used for statistical analysis.

There was a significant increase in shot-put performance following the bench-press versus the parallel back-squat and control. The parallel back-squat and control were not different.

Implication. Shot-put performance was significantly enhanced by bench-press post-activation potentiation versus parallel back-squat and control. The bench press but not parallel back-squat potentiates shot put performance in collegiate athletes.

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