Highlights • Athletes of different competitive levels may respond differently to a potentiation activity. • Psychological responses are possibly not noticeable during non-competitive settings. • Acute muscle oxygenation responses are difficult to be interpreted probably due to local vasodilatory factors. Athletes' competitive level has an effect on several psychophysiological parameters during the execution of sports-related tasks. This study analyzed the acute effect of a potentiation activity (PAP), composed by 5 loaded box jumps, on specific psychological, physiological and performance-related parameters in 22 trained (COM) and untrained (UNT) adult male swimmers. A control condition was also evaluated. Measurements included the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory, rate of perceived exertion, lower limbs muscle oxygenation, exercise heart rate, vertical jumping ability, 3 different split times and total time-trial performance during an all-out 50-m swim test executed using the breaststroke technique. In addition, total swim strokes and the optimal individual response after the potentiation activity were measured. No significant differences among the two testing conditions were found for all psychological, physiological and performance-related parameters (p > .05) with the exception of total performance time in the UNT group after the PAP condition (41.5 ± 5.3 vs. 41.9 ± 5.5 s; p = .023; ES = 0.6). As expected, the COM group showed enhanced swimming performance during all split times and total time, compared to the UNT group. These results suggest that (i) independently of the training level, psychological responses during sports-related tasks are probably not evident under non-competitive situations and, (ii) competitive level athletes may need more challenging activation stimulus, compared to their less competitive counterparts, to induce the desirable adaptations on the subsequent main activity.
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