The effects of pliometric exercises applied on trampoline and matt floor on muscle damage, vertical jump and balance in men

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of an 8-week plyometric exercise program on a trampoline and mat surface on vertical jump and dynamic balance performance, creatine kinase (CK) enzyme activity, serum testosterone concentrations, and serum cortisol levels. In addition, another aim is to examine the effects of 2 weeks of detraining on sports performance after the exercise period. Forty-two men aged between 18-25 participated in the study voluntarily. Participants were randomized [Trampoline Group (TG); n=15 and Mat Floor Group (MFG); n=15; Control Group (CG); n=12] were divided into 3 groups. While TG and MFG performed plyometric exercises 2 days a week for 8 weeks, CG performed only the warm-up and cool-down protocol. In research, vertical jump and dynamic balance performance measurements were made to the participants before and after the exercise. Blood samples were taken just before and 24, 48 and 72 hours after the exercise in order to detect muscle damage as a result of plyometric exercises performed on different surfaces, and before and after 8 weeks of exercise to examine the changes in testosterone and cortisol hormone levels. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the non-normally distributed or non-homogeneous data between groups in statistical analysis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and two-way analysis of variance (Two Way ANOVA) test were used in the comparison of normally distributed and homogeneous data between groups. According to the statistical analysis results, there was no significant difference between the experimental groups in the muscle damage levels after the applied plyometric exercises. (p>0,0167). While significant increases occurred in MZG and TG dynamic balance performance values (p<0,05), there were significant increases in vertical jump performance values (p<0,01). A significant difference was found between the experimental groups in favor of TG in the vertical jump pre-test and detraining performance values (p<0,01) and a significant increase in TG values was found in all dynamic balance performance values (p<0,05). There was no difference between the groups in chronic cortisol levels (p>0,05). Significant decreases were found in TG and CG chronic testosterone levels (p<0,05), while no significant difference was found in MZG chronic testosterone levels (p>0,05). As a result, there was no significant difference in the CK values of the exercise groups, and in line with the significant positive results of TG in the vertical jump and dynamic balance performance and the subsequent detraining processes, it can be said that the mini trampoline floor can be preferred in plyometric exercises. Key Words: Dynamic balance, Vertical jump, Muscle damage, Cortisol, Plyometric, Testosterone.