Effects of Training With Different Hang-Power-Clean Intensities on the Maximum Dynamic Strength, Vertical Jump, and Sprint Performance of Female Handball Players.

Purpose: To compare the effects of 7 weeks of training with different hang-power-clean (HPC) intensities on the maximum dynamic strength, vertical jump, and sprint performance of female handball players.

Methods: Professional handball athletes with at least 1 year of HPC experience volunteered to participate. The athletes were balanced by position and randomly assigned to a group with HPC at 90% (HPC90%) or 50% (HPC50%) of HPC 1-repetition maximum (1RM). The training volume was equalized between groups. Pretraining and posttraining assessments included 1RM HPC, jump height in the squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ), and sprint speeds at 5, 20, and 30 m.

Results: From pretraining to posttraining, both groups significantly increased (P ≤ .05) 1RM HPC, although a small effect size was observed in favor of HPC90%. HPC90% and HPC50% did not induce significant changes (P > .05) in the SJ and CMJ height, although for the SJ, a small effect size was observed in favor of HPC90%. Both groups induced a significant improvement (P ≤ .05) in 5-, 20-, and 30-m sprint speeds, although for all speeds, small to moderate effect sizes were observed in favor of HPC90%.

Conclusions: Both training groups induced significant improvements in 1RM HPC and sprint speeds, whereas no significant changes were observed in vertical jumps. In addition, based mainly on the effect sizes, the HPC90% group was more effective for increasing 1RM HPC, SJ, and sprint speeds than the HPC50% group.