| Summary: | The effect of exercising with a weighted vest equal to 15% of body mass on vertical jump height was assessed. It was hypothesized that the defined treatment protocol could enhance jumping performance by increasing hip, knee and ankle joint power. The findings of this study showed that the defined active stretching protocol significantly increases jump height in male participants (0.3364 m compared to0. 3456 m from pre to post exercise respectively) but did not yield a significant increase in females. No significant changes in joint angle, torque, power or velocity were observed between the pre and post exercise jumping. However, the pre-take off phase of jumping was significantly decreased after the exercise. Also a significant increase in the initial velocity was observed in the post loaded jumping in men (2.507 m/s Vs. 2.588 from pre to post exercise respectively).
Analysis of jumping with the weighted vest revealed numerous significant changes in temporal aspects of jumping as well as joint output. It was observed that performing the weighted jumping for five sets of three repetitions, could increase the jump height which was originally decreased by applying the vest.
Findings of the analysis of jumping with the weighted vest and those of jumping after the removal of the vest did not support the increase of a specific parameter for a specific joint. Rather, it suggests that the application of this treatment increases the performance by optimizing the timing of various movement sequences.
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