Does Post-Activation Performance Enhancement Occur During the Bench Press Exercise under Blood Flow Restriction?

Background The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) during successive sets of the bench press (BP) exercise under blood flow restriction (BFR). Methods The study included 10 strength-trained males (age = 29.8 ± 4.6 years; body mass = 94.3 ± 3.6 kg; BP 1-repetition maximum (1RM) = 168.5 ± 26.4 kg). The experiment was performed following a randomized crossover design, where each participant performed two different exercise protocols: under blood flow restriction (BFR) and control test protocol (CONT) without blood flow restriction. During the experimental sessions, the study participants performed 3 sets of 3 repetitions of the BP exercise at 70%1RM with a 5 min rest interval between sets. The differences in peak power output (PP), mean power output (MP), peak bar velocity (PV), and mean bar velocity (MV) between the CONT and BFR conditions were examined using 2-way (condition × set) repeated measures ANOVA. Furthermore, t-test comparisons between conditions were made for the set 2-set 1, set 3-set 1, and set 3-set 2 delta values for all variables. Results The post hoc results for condition × set interaction in PP showed a significant increase in set 2 compared to set 1 for BFR ( < 0.01) and CONT ( = 0.01) conditions, a significant increase in set 3 compared to set 1 for the CONT ( = 0.01) condition, as well as a significant decrease in set 3 compared to set 1 for BFR condition occurred ( < 0.01). The post hoc results for condition × set interaction in PV showed a significant increase in set 2 compared to set 1 for BFR ( < 0.01) and CONT ( = 0.01) conditions, a significant increase in set 3 compared to set 1 for CONT ( = 0.03) condition, as well as a significant decrease in set 3 compared to set 1 for BFR condition ( < 0.01). The t-test comparisons showed significant differences in PP ( < 0.01) and PV ( = 0.01) for set 3-set 2 delta values between BFR and CONT conditions. Conclusion The PAPE effect was analyzed through changes in power output and bar velocity that occurred under both the CONT and BFR conditions. However, the effects of PAPE have different kinetics in successive sets for BFR and for CONT conditions.