Abstract: This present study reviews relevant studies on postactivation potentiation (PAP), aiming to clarify the physiological mechanism of PAP,and elucidate the key factors that influence PAP in the hope of exploring the best strategy to induce PAP and providing some reference for the application of PAP. It was found that the mechanism of PAP mainly includes phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chains, increase of high level motor units in nerve system mobilization and change of pinnation angle at time of muscle contraction. Factors affecting the PAP effect include age and sex, muscle fiber types, muscle length, training status, strength level and muscle activation form, etc. Among them, age is in an reverse "U" shape relationship with PAP; PAP of male is higher than that of female for Type II muscle fibre in male is higher than that in female; the higher the training level and the strength level, the stronger the PAP effect; the current form of PAP activation mainly includes static MVC practice and complex training. Although PAP is affected by many factors, it is still possible to activate PAP to the full extent by choosing the most appropriate induction practice for different athletes and maintaining a balance between between PAP and fatigue.

Key words: postactivation potentiation, explosive power, complex training, plyometric exercise, skeletal muscle