Post activation potential (PAP) is one of the hot topics in warm-up preparation and physical training. This article explores the effect of inducing PAP on swimming start by using an 85% RM barbell squat in the lower limbs and investigates the impact of PAP 9 minutes after the squat start. Method: This article adopts an experimental method. The study selected 8 university swimming specialized student athletes and used the testing equipment Kistler to shoot videos and obtain data on their exercise biological force and time. The paired sample t-test was used to process the pre-test and post-test related data. After warming up and swimming in a squatting style pre-departure test, athletes perform 3 sets of 5 85% RM barbell squats and then rest for 9 minutes for a squatting style post-departure test. During the off stage, the average peak power of the horizontal force increased by 4 watts (T=-4.233, P=0.004), and the average peak power of the horizontal force increased by 0.072 times body weight (T=-3.408, P=0.011); The average increase in peak vertical force was 0.064 times body weight (T=-4.593, P=0.003); The peak force of the back kick increased by an average of 0.03 times body weight (T=-3.055, P=0.018), and after 9 minutes of testing, the average time from the back to 15 meters decreased by 0.016 seconds (T=4.258, P=0.004). The athletes showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in the 9-minute posttest after inducing enhanced effects through 85% RM barbell squats compared to pretest squatting departure stage and segmented time data, indicating a positive impact. Whether the induced PAP effect has a positive impact on swimming departure has been confirmed through practice to be effective in the field of swimming departure. This effect has an enhancing effect on force and power, but whether it can be used in competitions and whether the induction method is reasonable needs further research.
Lyu et al. (2026) studied this question.