Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) in football players and the effects of different recovery strategies on acute performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of different recovery strategies applied following Post-Activation Performance Enhancement (PAPE) on performance in soccer players. Eighteen male soccer players who regularly participated in training volunteered to take part in the study. A single-group repeated-measures experimental design was employed, and all participants completed four different experimental conditions on separate days: control, PAPE + passive rest, PAPE + static stretching, and PAPE + dynamic stretching. During the initial phase of the study, participants’ one-repetition maximum (1RM) strength levels were determined. In each experimental session, pre-test measurements consisting of countermovement jump (CMJ), free jump (FJ), 10-m sprint, 30-m sprint, and Illinois agility tests were conducted following a standardized warm-up. In the PAPE conditions, participants performed a barbell back squat exercise at 85% of their 1RM, followed by either 5 minutes of passive rest, static stretching, or dynamic stretching. After the recovery period, all performance tests were repeated. The obtained data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results indicated that the recovery strategies significantly affected 10-m sprint, 30-m sprint, CMJ, FJ, and agility performance (p < 0.05). The dynamic stretching protocol produced the highest performance values, particularly in 30-m sprint, CMJ, FJ, and agility tests. While static stretching yielded more favorable outcomes than passive rest in some performance variables, passive rest was generally associated with lower performance values. Effect size analyses revealed that the interventions had particularly large effects on CMJ and agility performance. In conclusion, recovery strategies applied following PAPE influence acute performance responses in soccer players, and dynamic stretching appears to be the most effective method for enhancing sprint, jumping, and agility performance.