Miltenberger, M., Miller, T., Davis, S., Pullo, F. (2012). The effects of short-term power training on vertical jump performance. Presentation 2624 at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Francisco, California; May 29-June 2, 2012.

"It has been well established that power is a major distinguishing factor in the ability to be successful in athletics. Olympic lifts are common techniques that are employed by exercise professionals; the question of specificity arises when determining the use of push vs. pull exercises."

This study assessed the effects of short-term power training using the power clean and the ground-base jammer on vertical jump performance. The experimental protocol consisted of a two-group design (power clean and ground-base jammer). Both groups trained for 10 sessions over 20 days with five sets of three repetitions at approximately 85-90% of calculated 1RM. Ss (N = 9) were college age males defined as untrained and free from injury that would prevent or inhibit participation. Vertical jump height was assessed using the VertecŪ system for both the countermovement vertical jump and the non-countermovement vertical jump. The countermovement vertical jump consisted of quickly squatting to 90° of knee flexion followed by an explosive upward movement. The non-countermovement vertical jump consisted of a 3-second pause at 90° of knee flexion before the concentric phase of the jump was initiated. Ss performed three jumps. Maximal jump height was recorded and converted to watts for comparison.

The power-clean training group increased the countermovement vertical jump and non-countermovement vertical jump performances by 231 watts or 4.6% and 29 watts or .6% respectively. The ground-base jammer group also increased their performances in both the countermovement vertical jump and non-countermovement vertical jump by 92 watts or 2% and 124 watts or 3% respectively.

Implication. This study trended toward the specificity of push vs. pull exercises. The push (ground-base jammer) appeared to affect the non-countermovement vertical jump while the pull (power clean) affected the countermovement vertical jump. In the perspective of specificity, sports involving movement without a countermovement (football lineman) may benefit more from training with the ground-base jammer while sports involving countermovement ability (volleyball) may benefit more from training with the power clean. In addition, the data also suggest that short-term power training in general may be enough to elicit some adaptation increasing performance across conditions.

The implications of this study should be viewed cautiously because of the small sample sizes used.

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