Low-Load Conditioning with Blood Flow Restriction and Whole-Body Vibration Induces Post-Activation Performance Enhancement Effects and Improves Anaerobic Performance: A Pilot Study
(Ruibin Guo, Yinglu Hong, Nan Xu, Hongwen Wei)

This study examined the post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) effects of low-load conditioning (30% of 1 repetition maximum (RM) squat) with blood flow restriction (BFR) or whole-body vibration (WBV) only, and with both BFR and WBV on anaerobic performance. Forty anaerobically-trained men were randomly allocated into one of the four groups: CON, BFR, WBV or BFR+WBV, and completed five visits: Visit 1: 1RM test and familiarization session; Visit 2: Wingate test; and Visits 3 to 5: conditioning according to the group assignment, followed by a Wingate test after different rest intervals: 4 (T4), 8 (T8) or 12 (T12) min on each visit, respectively, in randomized order. Capillary blood lactate samples were collected at the 3rd, the 5th, the 8th and the 10th min after the Wingate test. Analysis revealed significant interaction effects between group and time on peak blood lactate concentration (p < 0.019). The within-group analysis showed that compared to PRE, 1) mean power (mean-P), mean power/body mass (mean-P/BM) and total work (TW) of all three groups were significantly greater at T8 (p < 0.045); 2) peak power and peak power/body mass of the BFR and the WBV group were greater at T8 (p < 0.024); 3) minimal power of the BFR+WBV group was significantly lower, and fatigue slopes were significantly greater at T8 (p < 0.032); and 4) mean-P, mean-P/BM and TW of the BFR+WBV group were significantly greater at T4 (p < 0.015). Low-load conditioning combined with BFR or WBV may induce potential PAPE to enhance anaerobic performance, and the combined-type of the protocol may induce such benefits in a faster time fashiont.

Guo, R., Hong, Y., Xu, N. & Wei, H. (2026). Low-Load Conditioning with Blood Flow Restriction and Whole-Body Vibration Induces Post-Activation Performance Enhancement Effects and Improves Anaerobic Performance: A Pilot Study. Journal of Human Kinetics, 100, 179–189. https://doi.org/10.5114/jhk/202048