Warming Up Before a 20-Minute Endurance Effort: Is It Really Worth It?

Abstract

<jats:p><jats:italic><jats:bold>Purpose</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> To analyze the effects of different warm-up protocols on endurance-cycling performance from an integrative perspective (by assessing perceptual, neuromuscular, physiological, and metabolic variables). <jats:italic><jats:bold>Methods</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> Following a randomized crossover design, 15 male cyclists (35 [9] y; peak oxygen uptake [VO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>peak] 66.4 [6.8] mL·kg<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>·min<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>) performed a 20-minute cycling time trial (TT) preceded by no warm-up, a standard warm-up (10 min at 60% of VO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>peak), or a warm-up that was intended to induce potentiation postactivation (PAP warm-up; 5 min at 60% of VO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>peak followed by three 10-s all-out sprints). Study outcomes were jumping ability and heart-rate variability (both assessed at baseline and before the TT), TT performance (mean power output), and perceptual (rating of perceived exertion) and physiological (oxygen uptake, muscle oxygenation, heart-rate variability, blood lactate, and thigh skin temperature) responses during and after the TT. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Results</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> Both standard and PAP warm-up (9.7% [4.7%] and 12.9% [6.5%], respectively, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &lt; .001), but not no warm-up (−0.9% [4.8%], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .074), increased jumping ability and decreased heart-rate variability (−7.9% [14.2%], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .027; −20.3% [24.7%], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .006; and −1.7% [10.5%], <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = .366). Participants started the TT (minutes 0–3) at a higher power output and oxygen uptake after PAP warm-up compared with the other 2 protocols (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &lt; .05), but no between-conditions differences were found overall for the remainder of outcomes (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> &gt; .05). <jats:italic><jats:bold>Conclusions</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> Compared with no warm-up, warming up enhanced jumping performance and sympathetic modulation before the TT, and the inclusion of brief sprints resulted in a higher initial power output during the TT. However, no warm-up benefits were found for overall TT performance or for perceptual or physiological responses during the TT.</jats:p>

An Analysis of Warm-Up Strategies at a Cross-Country Skiing National Championship

“…8 In this study, it was found that a short, specific WU elicited similar physiological responses, perception of effort and subsequent sprint time-trial performance compared to a longer, more traditional approach. This is, in part, consistent with previous research acknowledging the potential for longerduration WUs to result in fatigue, 6,[8][9][10][11] while shorter WUs have been reported to enhance physiological and/or performance measures in rowing 6 and track cycling. 11 While the aforementioned study investigated WU approaches in sprint XC skiing, no research has been conducted to date on WU strategies prior to distance XC skiing.…”

“…Muscle activation and priming of the upper-and lower-body musculature did not form part of the skiers' WU strategies, despite recent work indicating that brief (10-s) high-intensity sprints within a WU may elicit potentiating effects on both V̇O2 kinetics and neuromuscular qualities. 9 In fact, only five of the 21 skiers (three women, two men) planned any type of muscleactivation exercises (e.g., countermovement jumps or exercises using external resistance, such as bands). Prior to both the distance and sprint events, 11 skiers (eight women, three men) planned "high-intensity skiing", with individual descriptions including "short sprints" and "sprints on skis".…”

“…The limited time planned and executed at A3+ intensities before the sprint competition is perhaps surprising, since intermittent periods of high-intensity work within a WU can benefit V̇O2 kinetics. 9,26 Therefore, skiers may be unaware of the potential positive effects of incorporating high-intensity intermittent work into their WU routines. Furthermore, the large inter-individual variation in total WU durations and planned and executed times in intensity zones may indicate a lack of standardization of WU practices.…”

Post-activation performance enhancement strategies in sport: a brief review for practitioners

“…But, to date, there is still limited evidence with these athletes [26,32,47]. of note, considering the transient duration of PAPE (up to 10 minutes after CAs), it is still to be solved if the pacing improvements during the first splits of an endurance test may affect the total time, which may be related to the duration of the endurance exercise [48][49][50]. In addition, more studies comparing the effect of different warm-up protocols on both PAPE and cardiometabolic responses are needed, as endurance performance can be also related to oxygen uptake kinetics and perceptual responses [19].…”

Comparing Active, Passive, and Combined Warm-Ups Among Junior Alpine Skiers in −7°C

“…The likely to very likely improvement in CMJ performance following ACT and COM compared to PAS may be related to the inclusion of the 5 weighted CMJs at the end of the active warm-up, which were used to induce a PAP response (ie, an increase in muscle force after a conditioning contractile activity, such as a series of maximal or near-maximal dynamic exercises) 24,25 . The significant improvement in CMJ performance for COM compared to PAS (∼6.8%), but not for ACT compared to PAS (∼2.9%), suggests a potential benefit of supplementary passive heating either during and/or after the weighted CMJs in addition to the active warm-up used in the current study.…”