The Effects Of Isometric Vs. Plyometric Exercises On Throwing Velocity In Handball Players

While there are available literature describing the effects of diverse warm-up protocols on throwing velocity in different sports, there are no studies comparing the effects of plyometric and isometric exercises on handball throwing velocity. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of two warm-up protocols including plyometric vs. isometric exercises on throwing velocity in handball players. METHODS: Sixteen U-22 handball male players (19.8 ± 0.9 yrs) of national level completed 3 different warm-ups (isometric [ISO] vs. plyometric [PLY] vs. control [CON]) in a randomized order over three weeks. They firstly performed a standardized warm-up (including low-intensity running plus dynamic stretching exercises of the upper and lower limbs) followed by the ISO vs. PLY vs. CON exercises. Immediately after the warm-up protocols, they were assessed three times for throwing velocity using a Doppler radar gun (Stalker, ATS II, TX, USA). The ISO protocol included 3 sets of 5 seconds at 80% of the Maximum Voluntary Isometric Contraction test (MVIC) for the dominant arm in a motorized electrical device (DYNA, MyoQuality®, model M1, Spain). The PLY protocol consisted of plyometric push-ups (3 sets of 4 repetitions). The CON condition included an iso-time low-intensity running bout. One-Way ANOVA with Holm-Bonferroni post hoc tests was performed to compare the 3 conditions. RESULTS: There were no differences in throwing velocity between experimental interventions (ISO and PLY) when compared to CON. Table 1 shows the comparison of the highest throwing velocity values for the conditions evaluated. Table 1. - Comparison of the throwing velocity values (mean ± SD) within and between conditions. CON (95% CI) ISO (95% CI) PLY (95% CI) CON vs. ISO CON vs. PLY ISO vs. PLY p p p Throwing velocity (km•h-1) 84.6 ± 5.3 (81.8-87.5) 83.2 ± 5.0 (80.5-85.9) 84.4 ± 5.3 (81.6-87.2) 0.436 0.847 0.393 CONCLUSION: Plyometric and isometric warm-up exercises did not improve throwing velocity, when compared to low-intensity running, in handball male players. Daniel Boullosa was supported by Grant RYC2021-031098-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by "European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR", and by a productivity research grant (PQ1D) from CNPq (Brazil).