Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how exercise order affects lower body jump power in collegiate athletes. There is still a disparity in knowledge on the effects of exercise order of resistance training on lower body jump power. Therefore, there is a need to learn more about the effect of exercise order on lower body jump power. The sample size was thirty-eight, 26 males (age: 21.346 ± 2.591, height: 70.846 ± 2.935 and weight: 149 ± 32.714) and 12 females (age: 20.364 ± 3.529, height: 66.364 ± 2.656 and weight: 149 ± 32.714) collegiate athletes were recruited for this study. Subjects were divided into three separate groups. Group A (GA; performing exercise order 1-5), Group B (GB; performing reverse order of GA, 5-1) and Group C (GC; the control group was asked to not perform any form of resistance training in and out of the facility during the duration of the study). The data collected was of the lower body power: Vertical Jump (VJ) and Standing Broad Jump (SBJ) to compare before and after results. Subjects were asked to train two days per week for six weeks during their off-season period. The exercises used for this study were solely lower body extremity exercises (back squat, bulgarian squat, lateral lunge, valslides and seated leg raises). A single factor ANOVA was used for comparing the differences amongst the three groups for the VJ and SBJ. A Scheffe post-hoc was used to determine whether there were any significant differences. Alpha level was set at P < 0.05. Data was also reported as means ± SD. The results showed that there was a significant main effect found. After post-hoc analysis, there were no significant differences found. There are other variables to consider when knowing that more studies are needed to state a firm answer to exercise order affecting athletic performance. To summarize, in this study there was no 1-RM back squat test done. If there was a 1-RM test done, then percentages could have been prescribed to elicit a higher stimulus in training sessions. Incorporating a plyometric exercise or sprint test could possibly lead to a significant increase in lower body jump power tests. Lastly, conducting the study longer than six weeks or increasing the number sessions per week could lead to greater stimulus.