Exploring the Influence of Cognitive and Ecological Dynamics Approaches on Countermovement Jumping Enhancement: A Comparative Training Study

Countermovement jumping (CMJ) and free-arm countermovement jumping (CMJFA) express the explosive-elastic force of the lower limbs. Strategies to enhance performance in both types of jumping can be categorized into cognitive and ecological-dynamic approaches. However, the effectiveness of these approaches in improving CMJ and CMJFA remains incompletely understood. This study aims to investigate the impact of training protocols based on the two approaches to improving CMJ. Thirty-six subjects with an average age of 26 years were selected and divided into two groups: the ecological-dynamic group (EDG) and the cognitive group (CG). For 12 weeks, both groups followed separate protocols of three weekly one-hour sessions. EDG group followed a protocol focused on circle time. The CG group followed an instructor-led training protocol. Incoming and outgoing flight heights were measured. Pre and post-intervention differences within and between groups were assessed using t-tests for dependent and independent samples, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). CG demonstrated a 12.2% increase in CMJ and a 7.8% improvement in CMJFA, while EDG showed a 10.2% increase in CMJ and 19.5% progress in CMJFA. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between the groups in the improvement of CMJ; statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the improvement of CMJFA in favor of EDG.