The enhancement of explosive power contributes to the development of anaerobic capacity: A comparison of autoregulatory progressive resistance exercise and velocity-based resistance training

Objectives

Due to the character of the taekwondo, the adenosine triphosphate–phosphocreatine system provides the energy for each kick, the glycolytic system supports the repeated execution of kicks, and the aerobic system promotes recovery between these movements and the bout. Therefore, taekwondo athletes require high explosive power and anaerobic capacity in order to carry out sustained and powerful attacks. So, the purpose of this study is to compare the effects of APRE and VBRT on lower-limb explosive power and anaerobic capacity in college taekwondo players.

Methods

A total of 30 taekwondo players completed an 8-week training intervention with autoregulatory progressive resistance exercise (APRE; n = 15) and velocity-based resistance training (VBRT; n = 15). Testing included the one-repetition maximum squat, countermovement jump (CMJ), taekwondo anaerobic intermittent kick test (TAIKT), and 30-s Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT).

Results

(1) Intragroup comparisons revealed significant effects for one-repetition maximum squat, peak power of CMJ (CMJ_PP), relative peak power of CMJ (CMJ_RPP), and total number of TAIKT (TAIKT_TN) in both the APRE and VBRT groups. The VBRT group exhibited small effect sizes for time at peak power of WAnT (WAnT_PPT) and moderate effect sizes for peak power of WAnT (WAnT_PP), relative peak power of WAnT (WAnT_RPP), and fatigue index of TAIKT (TAIKT_FI), whereas the APRE group exhibited small effect sizes for TAIKT_FI. (2) Intergroup comparisons revealed no significant effects in any of the results. However, VBRT demonstrated a moderate advantage in WAnT_PP and WAnT_RPP, whereas APRE had a small advantage in CMJ_PP and CMJ_RPP.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that APRE improved explosive power (CMJ_PP and CMJ_RPP) more, whereas VBRT improved anaerobic power output (WAnT_PP and WAnT_RPP) more. Both methods were found to have similar effects in improving the anaerobic endurance (WAnT_PPT and TAIKT_TN) and fatigue index (power drop of WAnT and TAIKT_FI).