Acute effects of squat loading intensity on performance in competitive judo athletes

Aydın S, Eken Ö, Aldhahi MI. Acute effects of squat loading intensity on performance in competitive judo athletes. Sci Rep. 2026 Feb 16. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-39312-x. 

ABSTRACT

Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is used to acutely improve sport-specific performance, yet the optimal loading strategy for complex combat sports remains unclear. This randomized, counterbalanced crossover study investigated the acute effects of moderate- and maximal-load squat conditioning activities on judo-specific fitness among nationally competitive male judokas. All participants completed three sessions on separate days (≥ 48 h apart): a control condition consisting of a standardized judo-specific warm-up only, an 80%-PAPE protocol (warm-up + 6 squats at 80% of 6RM), and a 100%-PAPE protocol (warm-up + 1 squat at 100% 1RM). After a 7-min passive recovery, athletes performed the Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT). Data were analyzed using one-way repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc tests. The 80%-PAPE condition produced the greatest improvements in total throws and the SJFT index, whereas the 100%-PAPE condition did not enhance throw performance but improved 1-min heart rate recovery. These findings indicate that moderate-load PAPE provides a more favorable potentiation–fatigue balance for optimizing judo-specific performance under short recovery periods.

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