The Warm-up National Council on Strength & Fitness Fitness professionals, sport coaches and physical education teachers have been recommending and implementing warm-ups prior to exercise for a variety of reasons including psychological preparation (focus), injury prevention, and physiological preparation. Despite the limited scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness, pre-exercise warm-up activities are well-accepted and commonly employed in fitness/performance environments. The term warm-up speaks to the fact that the benefits of the activity are attributed to temperature-related mechanisms that promote physiological preparedness of the body’s systems. When the tissue temperature increases, the muscle stiffness (resistance) decreases, nerve-conduction rate increases, force-velocity relationship improves, there is an increase in anaerobic enzyme activation and energy provision. While implementing a warm-up is considered by most to be essential for optimum performance, there is little scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness. Inconsistencies and lack of evidence-based guidelines have led to the development of warm-up protocols based on trial and error or duplication from a prior instructional experience by athletes and or coaches. Data from historical trials provides limited conclusiveness, due to the variability among trials (e.g. passive vs. active, static vs. dynamic), lack of statistical data and poorly controlled studies. One of the predominant debates regarding warm-ups is the effect the actions have on injury prevention. Common sense would suggest that if the tissue is more pliable, the nervous system is more responsive, the blood flow dynamics are heightened, and a person is likely more focused on the task then risk should be reduced. However, there exists substantial evidence that static stretching incorporated in the warm-up may inhibit performance while active warm-ups have demonstrated improvements in performance. When the warm-up causes the body to raise oxygen consumption prior to higher intensity efforts, the aerobic cells aid in managing hydrogen produced from anaerobic metabolism. This suggests that an active warm-up should be used prior to any events predominated by anaerobic metabolism (higher intensity). Bottom line: Regular exercise has many proven health benefits, but warming up and cooling down do not. Still, if you enjoy these activities and they feel good, there’s little or no downside.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 20:10:17 +0000
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