The priming effect of using the bilateral squat and rear foot elevated split squat on bilateral and unilateral vertical jumping performance at different time points

This research examined the priming effects of back squats (BS) and rear foot elevated split squats (RFESS) on bilateral countermovement jumps (CMJ), right single-leg countermovement jumps (RCMJ), and left single-leg countermovement jumps (LCMJ) in well-trained athletes. Seventeen male participants, all trained in competitive team sports including basketball, football, and handball (age: 24.2 ± 5.2 years; weight: 72.6 ± 8.2 kg; 1RM BS: 122.79 ± 11.7 kg; 1RM RFESS: 78.26 ± 10.9 kg) performed 3 sets of 3 repetitions of both exercises at 80% of their 1RM as conditioning activities (CAs), before executing CMJ, RCMJ & LCMJ at 0, 4, 8, and 12 minutes post-CA. Although no significant differences were noted between the two CAs, significant improvements were observed after BS at 4 minutes for CMJ (+14.4 %, 6.1cm), RCMJ (+10.4 %, 2.0cm), and LCMJ (+13.7%, 2.6cm), as well as at 8 minutes for CMJ (+8.4 %, 3.5 cm), RCMJ (+11.3%, 2.1cm), and LCMJ (+12.4%, 2.4cm). For the RFESS, significant results were observed at 4 minutes for CMJ (+7.9%, 3.4cm), RCMJ (+11.2%, 2.2cm), and LCMJ (13.7%, 2.5cm), and at 8 minutes for CMJ (+7.1%, 2.9cm), RCMJ (+11.2%, 2.1cm), and LCMJ (+10.6 %, 2.0cm). These results demonstrate that both BS and RFESS effectively prime bilateral and unilateral vertical jumping performance at 4 and 8 minutes post-CAs. Practitioners can use either option to enhance jump performance in training or before competition. However, for bilateral jumps at 4 minutes post-CA, BS shows greater percentage improvements than RFESS. Practitioners should exercise caution when applying the priming effect in contrasting training scenarios.