The above-discussed inconsistency in the definition and understanding of PAP (mechanistic vs. performance-related approach) bears fundamental risks for the misinterpretation of study findings. Consequently, basic scientific knowledge and dissemination of study findings to practitioners in the field of strength and conditioning can be distorted. Indeed, some studies assert that the potentiation of twitch contractile properties (e.g., twitch peak torque [TPT]) induced by submaximal and maximal contractions may partly contribute to acute performance enhancements (e.g., increased jump height) [
38‐
41]. For instance, the studies of Mitchell and Sale [
38] and Fukutani et al. [
41] reported concomitant PAP-related increases in knee extensor TPT (28–40%) and countermovement jump height (3–11%) which occurred 0.5 to 4 min following submaximal squat exercises in trained male adults. The corresponding effect sizes (ES) were medium-to-large (0.54 ≤ ES ≤ 1.37) and small-to-large (0.22 ≤ ES ≤ 0.87), respectively. Additionally, there is evidence that repetitive hopping induced significant and large-sized gains in plantar flexor TPT (1.47 ≤ ES ≤ 3.26) and drop jump height (1.36 ≤ ES ≤ 6.75) 30 s following the conditioning activity in recreationally active individuals [
26,
42]. Thus, the authors concluded that twitch PAP effects contributed to gains in jump performance [
26,
38,
41,
42]. However, statistical associations between pre-to-post-exercise changes of twitch contractile properties (i.e., mechanistic PAP approach) with strength, power, or speed measures (i.e., performance PAP approach) are inconsistent in the literature. In fact, a number of studies reported trivial-to-large-sized correlation coefficients (|
r| ≤ 0.61) between changes in TPT of plantar flexors/knee extensors and jump height/kinetics in young female athletes [
24] and recreationally-trained individuals [
38‐
40,
42,
43]. These relatively poor and inconsistent associations between changes in twitch contractile properties and the corresponding strength, power, or speed performance indicate that individuals with greater twitch PAP effects in single muscle groups are not necessarily those showing the greatest single-/multi-joint performance improvements following acute exercise. In fact, other studies observed PAP effects following high-intensity contractions (e.g., MVC, submaximal leg press) but no acute performance changes [
24,
44‐
46]. In female young elite soccer players, submaximal exercises on a leg press resulted in large-sized enhancements in twitch rate of torque development (ES = 1.98) 7 min following conditioning contractions compared with a passive control condition [
24]. However, no significant improvements were found in countermovement and drop jump performances. Notably, a sequence of double-leg balance and submaximal leg press exercises induced significantly higher countermovement jump heights and shorter drop jump ground contact times (1.82 ≤ ES ≤ 1.98) 7 min following conditioning contractions compared with a passive control condition [
24]. However, no significant differences were observed in twitch contractile properties. Interestingly, it was suggested that PAP can only effectively contribute to performance enhancements within 1–5 min after conditioning contractions [
47]. Having these findings and the temporal decline in the effects of PAP in mind, it seems legitimate to state that factors other than twitch PAP may predominantly contribute to the acute performance enhancements. These factors could most likely be related to general warm-up effects which are observed a few minutes following conditioning contractions. In this context, various physiological effects, e.g., warm-up related changes in muscle temperature, metabolism, baseline oxygen consumption, muscle activation, motor learning, and even subjects’ psychological state were reported to induce acute and transient enhancements in physical performance (for reviews see [
12,
18]). For instance, higher muscle temperatures due to exercise can reduce the viscous resistance of muscles and joints and increase nerve conduction velocity [
18]. Elevated baseline oxygen consumption following warm-up (e.g., conditioning contractions) may allow individuals to reduce anaerobic demands during the first stages of the subsequent tasks [
18]. Furthermore, exercise may acutely potentiate selected neuromuscular responses (e.g., H-reflex) [
24,
48]. Moreover, MacIntosh and colleagues [
47] discussed the learning effect as a major confounding factor in studies dealing with PAP effects. More precisely, performance could be acutely enhanced by learning how to do the performance test, particularly with unfamiliar tests/tasks [
12,
47]. Additionally, studies on motor learning showed that practicing one task (e.g., conditioning contractions) can transfer to another, similar task (i.e., skill transfer) [
49,
50]. In this regard, beneficial effects of repetitive hopping, for instance, on subsequent drop jumps may also be attributed to skill transfer due to similar motor patterns (i.e., stretch–shortening cycle; [
51]). Thus, it is highly speculative and potentially misleading to attribute acute performance enhancements following conditioning contractions exclusively to twitch PAP effects.