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External muscle heating during warm-up does not provide added performance benefit above external heating in the recovery period alone

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Abstract

Purpose

Having previously shown the use of passive external heating between warm-up completion and sprint cycling to have had a positive effect on muscle temperature (T m) and maximal sprint performance, we sought to determine whether adding passive heating during active warm up was of further benefit.

Methods

Ten trained male cyclists completed a standardised 15 min sprint based warm-up on a cycle ergometer, followed by 30 min passive recovery before completing a 30 s maximal sprint test. Warm up was completed either with or without additional external passive heating. During recovery, external passive leg heating was used in both standard warm-up (CONHOT) and heated warm-up (HOTHOT) conditions, for control, a standard tracksuit was worn (CON).

Results

T m declined exponentially during CON, CONHOT and HOTHOT reduced the exponential decline during recovery. Peak (11.1 %, 1561 ± 258 W and 1542 ± 223 W), relative (10.6 % 21.0 ± 2.2 W kg–1 and 20.9 ± 1.8 W kg–1) and mean (4.1 %, 734 ± 126 W and 729 ± 125 W) power were all improved with CONHOT and HOTHOT, respectively compared to CON (1,397 ± 239 W; 18.9 ± 3.0 W kg–1 and 701 ± 109 W). There was no additional benefit of HOTHOT on T m or sprint performance compared to CONHOT.

Conclusion

External heating during an active warm up does not provide additional physiological or performance benefit. As noted previously, external heating is capable of reducing the rate of decline in T m after an active warm-up, improving subsequent sprint cycling performance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the continued support from the adidas Innovation Team during this study, with special thanks to Maarten Hupperets and Berthold Krabbe. Further thanks must also go to the Sports Technology Institute at Loughborough University for the loan of equipment. The research presented was co-funded by the Adidas Innovation Team, Germany, and the Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre, Loughborough University. At the time of writing SF was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Diet, Lifestyle & Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit based at University Hospitals of Leicester and Loughborough University. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors were fully responsible for conducting the trial and the data.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Correspondence to Steve H. Faulkner.

Additional information

Communicated by Toshio Moritani.

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Faulkner, S.H., Ferguson, R.A., Hodder, S.G. et al. External muscle heating during warm-up does not provide added performance benefit above external heating in the recovery period alone. Eur J Appl Physiol 113, 2713–2721 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-013-2708-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-013-2708-6

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