Effect of warm-up on cycle time trial performance.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to determine the effect of warm-up on 3-km cycling time trial (TT) performance, and the influence of accelerated VO(2) kinetics on such effect.


METHODS
Eight well-trained road cyclists, habituated to 3-km time trials, performed randomly ordered 3-km TT after a) no warm-up (NWU), b) easy warm-up (EWU) (15 min comprised of 5-min segments at 70, 80, and 90% of ventilatory threshold (VT) followed by 2 min of rest), or c) hard warm-up (HWU) (15 min comprised of 5-min segments at 70, 80, and 90% VT, plus 3 min at the respiratory compensation threshold (RCT) followed by 6 min of rest). VO(2) and power output (SRM), aerobic and anaerobic energy contributions, and VO(2) kinetics (mean response time to 63% of the VO(2) observed at 2 km) were determined throughout each TT.


RESULTS
Three-kilometer TT performance was (P < 0.05) improved for both EWU (266.8 +/- 12.0 s) (-2.8%) and HWU (267.3 +/- 10.4 s) (-2.6%) versus NWU (274.4 +/- 12.1 s). The gain in performance was predominantly during the first 1000 m in both EWU (48% of gain) and HWU (53% of gain). This reflected a higher power output during the first 1000 m in both EWU (384 W) and HWU warm-up (386 W) versus NWU (344 W) trials. The mean response time was faster in both EWU (45 +/- 10 s) and HWU (41 +/- 12 s) versus NWU (52 +/- 13 s) trials. There were no differences in anaerobic power output during the trials, but aerobic power output during the first 1000 m was larger during both EWU (203 W) and HWU (208 W) versus NWU (163 W) trials.


CONCLUSIONS
During endurance events of intermediate duration (4-5 min), performance is enhanced by warm-up irrespective of warm-up intensity. The improved performance is related to an acceleration of VO(2) kinetics.
Hajoglou
Amanda
A
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 54601, USA.
Foster
Carl
C
De Koning
Jos J
JJ
Lucia
Alejandro
A
Kernozek
Thomas W
TW
Porcari
John P
JP
D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
D019344:Lactic Acid