Effects of Jaw Clenching and Jaw Alignment Mouthpiece Use on Force Production During Vertical Jump and Isometric Clean Pull

This study examined the effects of jaw clenching, a self-adapted, jaw-repositioning mouthpiece on force production during maximum countermovement vertical jump and maximum isometric midthigh clean pull assessments in an attempt to determine any ergogenic effect attributable to clenching, jaw-repositioning mouthpiece use, or the combination of both. Thirty-six male subjects performed vertical jump and isometric clean pull assessments from a force platform under various mouthpiece and clench conditions. A 3 × 2 (mouthpiece × clench) repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to analyze each of the following force production variables for both assessments: peak force, normalized peak force, and rate of force development. In addition, jump height was analyzed for the vertical jump. Results revealed improvements in peak force (F1,35 = 15.84, p ≤ 0.001,
JOURNAL/jscr/04.02/00124278-201801000-00030/math_30MM1/v/2017-12-26T173942Z/r/image-tiff
= 0.31), normalized peak force (F1,35 = 16.28, p ≤ 0.001,
JOURNAL/jscr/04.02/00124278-201801000-00030/math_30MM2/v/2017-12-26T173942Z/r/image-tiff
= 0.32), and rate of force development (F1,35 = 12.89, p = 0.001,
JOURNAL/jscr/04.02/00124278-201801000-00030/math_30MM3/v/2017-12-26T173942Z/r/image-tiff
= 0.27) during the isometric clean pull assessment when participants maximally clenched their jaw, regardless of mouthpiece condition. There were no statistically significant differences in jump height, peak force, normalize...

Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - January 1, 2018 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research