Neuromechanical control in submaximal drop jumps: The effects of volitional effort demands and drop height magnitude on soleus muscle activation

The purpose of this study was to investigate soleus muscle activation during different phases of drop jump performed at submaximal levels of volitional effort and drop height magnitude. Methods: Fifteen professional volleyball players with minimum of eight years of experience in jumping activities participated in the study. Experimental protocol involved executing submaximal drop jumps at three levels of volitional effort (i.e., 65, 80 and 95% of the maximal height of jump). All submaximal drop jumps were done from three drop heights (20, 40 and 60 cm). The soleus muscle activation was monitored during four jump phases: pre-activation phase before touchdown, early contact phase upon touchdown, early and late push-off phase. Results: The results indicate that volitional effort level did not change the muscle activation during pre activation and early contact phase, but only in early and late push-off phase ( p ≤ 0.05). Conversely, it was observed that muscle activation during all phases of drop jump was adapted to the increased intensity of the external load caused by increasing of drop height magnitude ( p ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: The findings of the present study suggested that soleus muscle activation has selective responses to internal load (i.e., volitional effort level) and external load (i.e., drop height magnitude) intensities when drop jump is executing with submaximal effort.