title: The Acute Potentiating Effects of Heavy Sled Pulls on Sprint Performance.
abstract: This study examined the acute potentiating effects of heavy sprint-style sled pulls on sprint performance. Twenty-two experienced resistance-trained rugby athletes performed 2 heavy sprint-style sled pull training protocols on separate occasions using a randomized, crossover, and counterbalanced design. The protocols consisted of 2-baseline 15 m sprints followed by 15 m sprints at 4, 8, and 12 minutes after completing 15 and 7.5 m heavy sled pulls with loads of 75 and 150% body mass (respectively). A significantly faster (p ≤ 0.05) 15 m sprint time was observed at 12 minutes for the 75% body mass load. Small nonsignificant improvements (effect size [ES] = 0.22-0.33) in 5, 10, and 15 m sprint times were observed at 8 and 12 minutes after the 75% body mass sled pull. No significant changes were observed for any sprint time after the 150% body mass sled pull. Significant differences in the percentage of change in sprint times between the 2 sled pull conditions were observed at 4 (ES = 0.44-0.52), 8 (ES = 0.59), and 12 minutes (ES = 0.64). It would seem that the 75% body mass sled pull can be an effective preload stimulus for improving subsequent sprint performance provided that adequate recovery (8-12 minutes) is allowed. Practitioners should be advised that prescription of training load based on decrement in sprint velocity may be the best approach to determine loading for athletes.
authors.affiliation: 1AUT University, Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), AUT Millennium, Auckland, New Zealand; 2Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Department of Sport and Recreation, School of Applied Science, Tauranga, New Zealand; 3Edith Cowan University, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Perth, Australia; 4Bond University, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Gold Coast, Australia; and 5University of the Sunshine Coast, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Winwood
authors.forename: Logan R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Posthumus
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Cronin
authors.forename: Justin W L
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Keogh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005538:Football / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods*; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult