Acute effects of sled towing on sprint time in male youth of different maturity status.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10% body mass load on resisted sled towing 30 meter sprint times in male youth athletes of different maturity status. A total of 35 athletes (19 prepeak-height-velocity (PHV) and 16 mid/post-PHV) sprinted three times in an unloaded and each of the loaded conditions. The pre-PHV athletes were significantly slower (~33%; p < .05) than the more mature athletes across all loads (unloaded, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10% body mass). Each incremental load (i.e., 2.5% body mass) was found to reduce 30 m sprint times by 3.70% (± 2.59) and 2.45% (± 1.48) for the pre- and mid/post-PHV respectively. The slopes of the pre- (y = 0.09 x + 5.71) and mid/post (y = 0.04 x + 4.38) regression equations were compared and found to be statistically different (p = .004) suggesting that athletes of different maturity status responded differentially to the same relative resisted sprint load. Ten percent body mass load resulted in a reduced sprint time of ~15.8 and ~9.8% for the pre- and mid/post-PHV group, respectively. These results enable predictive equations to be formulated and appropriate resisted sprint loading, based on the intended focus of a session.

A comparison of the kinematics, kinetics and muscle activity between pneumatic and free weight resistance.

Pneumatic devices provide a resistance comprising minimal mass, possibly affording greater movement velocities, compared to free weight, while reducing the influence of momentum. Thirty men completed three testing sessions [free weight (FW), ballistic (BALL) and pneumatic (P)] each consisting of a one repetition maximum (1RM) and six sets (15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90% 1RM) of four explosive repetitions of a bench press. Dependent variables were expressed as mean and as a percentage of the concentric displacement. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were evaluated using two way repeated measures ANOVAs with Holm-Sidak post hoc comparisons. On average, the mean and peak P velocity were 36.5 and 28.3% higher than FW, and 22.9 and 19.1% higher than the BALL movements. The FW and BALL peak force were both significantly higher than the P (26.3 and 22.7% for FW and BALL, respectively). BALL mean power output was significantly higher than the FW and P at loads of 15 and 30% 1RM; however, between loads of 60-90% 1RM the highest mean power was produced with a P resistance. A 15% 1RM load maximized the peak power for each condition and no significant differences were found between the P and BALL. For loads of 45-90% 1RM the force, power and muscle activity were higher during the last 10-20% of the concentric displacement when subjects employed the P resistance. In summary, pneumatic resistance may offer specific advantages over loads comprising only mass (FW and BALL), although not without its own limitations.