Acute Effects of Rope Jumping Warm-up on Power and Jumping Ability in Track and Field Athletes

Plyometric training is widely used to improve force production, power and jumping ability through specific muscle action called the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). The SSC involves a powerful concentric contraction preceded by rapid eccentric contraction. The efficacy of the SSC is mainly related to the storage of elastic energy during eccentric contraction and its quick release during concentric contraction [1]. Examples of lower body plyometrics include such exercises as countermovement jumps (CMJs), drop jumps (DJs), bounds and hops. Plyometrics is an intense form of physical exercise, generating high ground reaction force which may exceed 6 times an individual's body mass [2]. Therefore, it has been suggested that plyometric exercises should be preceded by adequate warm-up to improve performance and reduce the incidence of injury. A warm-up program includes the following components: a general warm-up and a specific warm-up. A general warm-up usually consists of 5 to 10 minutes of slow jogging and 5 to 10 minutes of stretching exercises. Research in recent years has shown that static stretching prior to intensive activity may be detrimental to plyometric performance due to decreases in force production [3], peak power [4] and jumping ability [5]. Thus, researchers have suggested static warm-up should be replaced with more active, dynamic stretching aimed at optimizing performance. A specific warm-up involves movements similar to those executed in the main activity. According to Chu [6], this part of a warm-up routine performed before plyometric training should incorporate march drills, fast skip, shuffle, crossover runs, backward runs, various bounds and jumps. Empirical evidence suggests that warm-up routines incorporating specific exercises lead to more effective plyometric performance than those involving jogging and stretching only in untrained men and women [3]. The research hardly ever provides information in detail about specific warm-up before plyometric performance, with a few exceptions, for example, Faigenbaum et al. study [7]. The information is often too general to be used in new research, for example: “...including 10 minute warm-up (e.g., jogging, stretching and ballistic exercises)” [8], or “...warm-up consisting of low-intensity running, striding and self-administered submaximal jumps performed as practice and specific additional warm-up” [9]. Some plyometric studies do not report any information regarding warm-up [10, 11]. Pitreli and O'Shea [12] state: “For plyometric training: 3-4 minutes of rope jumping serves as an excellent warm-up...”. Other authors [13] have also suggested that including rope jumping in a warm-up routine is good preparation for plyometric training. However, these training recommendations have not been empirically verified. Improving performance through specific warm-up exercises seems essential, especially in track and field, where even minimal changes in performance may decide who wins or loses. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of warm-up protocols, traditional jumps and rope jumps on power and jumping ability in national-level track and field athletes. In addition, additional measurements to identify differences in kinetic and kinematic parameters between traditional and rope jumps were taken. On this basis, the assumption was that performing rope jumps during a warm-up may result in shorter contact time as well as timing and rhythm improvement due to lower values obtained for individual coefficients of variation (CV) in plyometric performance compared to traditional jumps. Abstract Introduction. The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of traditional jumps and rope jumps during warm-up on power and jumping ability in trained men. Material and methods. A group of 12 national-level track and field athletes participated in the study. Peak power and jumping ability were assessed by having participants perform five alternate leg bounds, a countermovement jump (CMJ) and a drop jump (DJ). Three different warm-up protocols were used in random order, with 3-day intervals between them. The first involved traditional jumps, the second rope jumps and the control consisted of general warm-up only (jogging and stretching). Results. The rope-jump warm-up protocol significantly improved jumping distance (p<0.05) as compared to the traditional protocol. There were no significant differences in peak power or jump height among experimental groups in the CMJ and DJ. The study also revealed that traditional and ropejump protocols significantly (p<0.001) increased peak power and jump height for the CMJ and DJ, and jump distance for the five alternate leg bounds compared to the control condition. Conclusion. The results of this study suggest that a warm-up including rope jumps may be more effective for horizontal jumping tasks than a protocol with traditional jumps, and that traditional and rope-jump warm-up protocols provide similar levels of enhancement for vertical jumping tasks.