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

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. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06997783. Registration date: 21/05/2025.