Burnley, M., Doust, J. H., & Jones, A. M. (2005). Effects of prior warm-up regime on severe intensity cycling performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 37(5), Supplement abstract 437.

Well-trained cyclists (N = 12) completed a series of seven-minute performance trials involving two minutes of constant work at ~90% VO2max and a further five minutes in which Ss attempted to maximize power output. This performance task was performed 10 minutes after experimental warm-up manipulations of no exercise and bouts of moderate, heavy, or sprint efforts.

At the onset of the performance trial, blood lactate was significantly elevated following the heavy and sprint warm-ups but not after the moderate and no-exercise warm-ups. The initial VO2 response was higher after each exercise condition, suggesting that warm-up exercise predisposed the oxygen transport system to be activated earlier in the task. Power output was elevated after the moderate and heavy warm-ups but reduced slightly after the sprint when compared to the no-exercise control condition.

Implication. Warm-ups containing effort levels similar to those required in a following task precipitated better endurance performances. Warm-ups with exceptionally high demands (sprint) were not beneficial for a following lower-intensity extended maximum effort.

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