Ng, FeliciaYam, Jia WenLum, DannyBarbosa, Tiago M.2019-10-222019-10-222020Ng, Felicia; Yam, Jia Wen; Lum, Danny; Barbosa, Tiago M. (2020). Human thrust in aquatic environment: The effect of post-activation potentiation on flutter kick. Journal of Advanced Research. ISSN 2090-1232. 21, p. 65-702090-1232http://hdl.handle.net/10198/19680Herein, we analyse by experimental techniques the human kicking thrust and measure the effect of a warm-up routine that includes post-activation potentiation (PAP) sets on front-crawl flutter kick thrust, kinematics, and performance. Sixteen male competitive swimmers with 22.13 ± 3.84 years of age were randomly assigned in a crossover manner to undergo a standard warm-up (non-PAP; control condition) and a warm-up that included PAP sets (PAP; experimental condition) consisting in 2 5 repetitions of unloaded countermovement jump. Participants performed a 25 m all-out trial in front-crawl with only flutter kicks eight min after each warm-up. Kinetics (i.e., peak thrust, mean thrust, and thrust-time integral) and kinematics (i.e., speed, speed fluctuation and kicking frequency) were experimentally collected by an in-house customized system composed of differential pressure sensors, speedo-meter, and underwater camera. Peak thrust (P = 0.02, d = 0.66) and mean thrust (P = 0.10, d = 0.40) were increased by 15% in PAP compared to non-PAP. Large and significant differences were noted in speed (P = 0.01, d = 0.54) and speed fluctuation (P = 0.02, d = 0.58), which improved by 10% in PAP compared with non-PAP. In conclusion, a warm-up that includes PAP sets improves kicking thrust, kinematics and performance.engHuman locomotionSwimmingPost-activation potentiationKineticsKinematicsPropulsionjournal article10.1016/j.jare.2019.10.001