Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) for Building Power: Top 6 Contrast Sets for Athletes
If you’re an athlete trying to get faster, jump higher, hit harder, or produce more force in less time, you need more than just heavy lifting or traditional plyometrics. You need a training method that ties strength and explosiveness together. That’s where post-activation potentiation—often called PAP—comes in.
At Overtime Athletes, PAP is one of our go-to tools for building real-world power. It’s a proven strategy that helps athletes unlock higher outputs in sprinting, jumping, cutting, and upper-body explosive actions. When used correctly, post-activation potentiation rapidly improves force production and neural drive, giving athletes a direct and immediate boost in explosiveness.
In this article, I’ll break down:
- What post-activation potentiation is
- Why PAP creates more explosive athletes
- How contrast training works
- The top 6 contrast sets for athletes, broken down by lower body bilateral, lower body unilateral, upper-body push, and upper-body pull
- How to perform each contrast set
- Why every athlete should be using PAP in their training
Let’s get into it.
For more on contrast training please check out our previous article breaking it down with our pro baseball athletes!
What Is Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP)?
Post-activation potentiation is a performance-enhancing training method where a heavy strength movement “primes” the nervous system to produce more force in a lighter, explosive movement immediately after.
In simple terms:
Heavy movement → Wake up the CNS → Follow with a light explosive movement → Increased output.
When you activate the nervous system with a heavy lift, your motor units fire more efficiently for several minutes afterward. This increases:
- Rate of force development (RFD)
- Motor unit recruitment
- Neural excitability
- Explosive output
That’s why post-activation potentiation is such a powerful strategy for sprinting, jumping, and generating explosive upper-body power.
Why PAP Helps Athletes Become More Explosive
When athletes use post-activation potentiation in their programming, a few key adaptations happen:
- The CNS fires faster, allowing quicker and more powerful movements.
- More muscle fibers activate, especially high-threshold fast-twitch fibers.
- Movement efficiency improves, helping athletes coordinate explosive actions.
- Rate of force development skyrockets, which is the #1 factor in sprinting and jumping performance.
In short, PAP teaches the body to turn strength into usable, game-changing power.
This is why post-activation potentiation is a staple in elite programming—and why we use it often at Overtime Athletes.
How Contrast Training Uses Post-Activation Potentiation
Contrast training is one of the easiest and most effective ways to train PAP.
A contrast set pairs:
- A heavy lift (strength activation)
- A biomechanically similar explosive movement (power expression)
This combo forces the nervous system to apply its “primed” state directly into a sport-specific pattern like jumping, sprinting, changing direction, throwing, or striking.
Below are the best PAP contrast sets for athletes, organized by movement pattern.
TOP 6 PAP CONTRAST SETS FOR ATHLETES
LOWER BODY (BILATERAL)
These contrast sets build full-body power, vertical jump ability, horizontal force production, and total lower-body explosiveness.
1. Trap Bar Deadlift → Seated Box Jump
This contrast pair builds raw force production through the posterior chain, then immediately transfers it to rapid vertical displacement.
How to Perform
- Trap Bar Deadlift (Heavy)
- Load a trap bar to 80–90% of your max.
- Drive through the floor, maintaining posture.
- Perform 2–3 reps with maximal intent.
- Seated Box Jump (Explosive)
- Sit on a box with feet flat and no countermovement.
- Explode straight up to a high box.
- Perform 2-3 reps focusing on speed and height.
Why It Works
- Deadlifts activate the posterior chain and prime neural firing.
- Seated jumps eliminate momentum, forcing pure power output.
- Perfect for improving concentric explosiveness and vertical force.
2. Box Squat with Band Resistance → Triple Broad Jump
This PAP contrast set blends vertical and horizontal force—ideal for acceleration and sprint power.
How to Perform
- Box Squat with Bands (Heavy & Dynamic)
- Set up a box squat with light-to-moderate band tension.
- Descend under control and explode up.
- Perform 2–3 reps at 70–80% bar load.
- Triple Broad Jump (Explosive)
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- Perform 3 consecutive broad jumps.
- Fast contact with the ground and full extension into each jump.
- Focus on horizontal projection and distance.
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Why It Works
- Band squats build rate of force development and hip extension speed.
- Triple broad jumps improve horizontal force, triple extension, and ground force production.
- Ideal for athletes who sprint often and need elite first-10-yard power.
LOWER BODY (UNILATERAL)
These PAP sets target unilateral stability, power, and athleticism—critical for sprinting, cutting, and change of direction.
3. Heavy Sled Push → Sprint Starts
This is one of the most effective PAP pairings for improving acceleration, 10-yard speed, and explosive starts.
How to Perform
- Heavy Sled Push (Strength)
- Load a sled to a heavy but movable weight.
- Push 10–20 yards with forward shin angles.
- Drive through the ground with long, powerful strides.
- Sprint Starts (Explosive)
- Perform any start variation (2-point, half-kneeling, crouching start).
- Sprint 10–20 yards with maximal intent.
- Rest 60-90 seconds.
Why It Works
- Sled pushes build horizontal force and shin angles identical to acceleration.
- Sprint starts allow athletes to express newfound neural drive.
- One of the best PAP methods for improving acceleration and sprint times.
4. Heavy Reverse Lunge → Bulgarian Split Squat Jumps
This pairing attacks single-leg strength, stability, and unilateral power—key components of athletic performance.
How to Perform
- Heavy Reverse Lunge (Strength)
- Use dumbbells or a barbell.
- Step back into a deep lunge.
- Drive back up explosively.
- Perform 3–5 reps per leg.
- Bulgarian Split Squat Jumps (Explosive)
- Rear foot elevated.
- Drop into depth and explode upward.
- Perform 3–5 jumps per leg continuous, trying to quickly rebound off the ground into each jump.
Why It Works
- Reverse lunges challenge hip stability and force production.
- Split squat jumps increase unilateral vertical power.
- Perfect for cutting, rebounding, sprinting, and change-of-direction athletes
UPPER BODY (PUSH & PULL)
These upper PAP sets improve punching power, throwing power, upper-body speed, and force absorption.
5. Bench Press → Rebound Med Ball Chest Pass
This classic PAP contrast builds upper-body anterior explosiveness and pushing power.
How to Perform
- Bench Press (Strength)
- Use 80–90% of your max.
- Press with controlled eccentric and explosive concentric.
- Perform 2–3 reps.
- Rebound Med Ball Chest Pass (Explosive)
- Rapidly throw a med ball into a wall, fully extending the arms each toss.
- Catch and absorb the rebound immediately and repeat.
- Perform 5–8 explosive reps.
Why It Works
- Bench press activates triceps, shoulders, and chest generating max intramuscular tension.
- Med ball passes improve rate of force development and explosive extension.
- Great for field athletes, fighters, and anyone needing upper-body pop.
6. Weighted Chin-Ups → Heavy Med Ball Slams
A powerful PAP pairing for upper-body pulling strength and total-body power output.
How to Perform
- Weighted Chin-Ups (Strength)
- Add external load via belt or dumbbell.
- Pull explosively but under control.
- Perform 2–4 reps.
- Heavy Med Ball Slams (Explosive)
- Use a non-bouncing ball.
- Bring ball overhead and slam back down with full force, quickly repeat.
- Perform 5–8 reps.
Why It Works
- Chin-ups activate the lats, biceps, and posterior chain.
- Slams use full triple flexion-to-extension power and essentially, you’re using the lats to explosively “pull” the med ball downward.
CONCLUSION
Post-activation potentiation is one of the most effective and scientifically supported training tools for developing power. When athletes use PAP properly, they improve rate of force development, neural drive, vertical jump, sprint acceleration, upper-body explosiveness, and overall athletic performance. If you want to see what full peak session including PAP looks like, check out this full video on Youtube of a peak session with our high school/college guys this past summer!
Contrast training is the best way to apply post-activation potentiation directly into real athletic movement patterns. Whether you’re a football player trying to improve your 40-yard dash, a basketball player trying to jump higher, or a field athlete who needs more explosive changes of direction, PAP gives you an instant performance boost. Generally, in our programming, we plan this method in our peak phases when we’re trying to maximize our athletes explosive output.
These are 6 contrast sets—covering bilateral lower body, unilateral lower body, upper-body push, and upper-body pull—we use at Overtime Athletes to build real, transferable athletic explosive power.
