Warm up and half time strategies

Question 1

Why should we warm up?

Answer 1

• To minimise injury risk.
• To physiologically prepare for competition.
• To psychologically prepare for competition.

Question 2

What happens when you warm up?

Answer 2

• Increase muscle temperature.
• Increased oxygen delivery to muscles.
• Speeding of metabolic reactions.
• Increased nerve conduction rate.
• Decrease in muscle stiffness.
• Decrease in joint stiffness.

Question 3

How does a change in temperature effect exercise?

Answer 3

• Passively or actively elevating muscle temperature can influence
  exercise performance.
• Increases in ATP turnover and cross bridge cycling rate.
• Improvements in muscle fibre functionality and muscle fibre conduction velocity.
• Increases in muscle glycogen availability and rate of force development.

Question 4

What non temperature related mechanisms occur after a warm up?

Answer 4

• Psychological effects and increased preparedness.
• HR, Q and muscle blood flow ↑.
• Decrease the initial oxygen deficit.
• Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP).

Question 5

What is post activation potentiation? (PAP)

Answer 5

• Explosive bouts of exercise prior to exercise to improve
  performance.
• Maximal or near-maximal intensity neuromuscular activation
  exercises.

Question 6

What are the mechanisms within PAP?

Answer 6

• Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory
  light chains may alter structure of the
  myosin head therefore actin-myosin
  interaction more sensitive.
• Increase the concentration of sarcoplasmic calcium, which can increase actin-myosin cross bridge cycling.
• Increased recruitment of higher order motor units.
• Increase in post-synaptic potential for same pre-synaptic potential following maximal contractions.
• Enhanced central output to motor neurones.
• Increased reflex electrical activity in spinal cord.
• Changes in pennation angle; Better force transmission to tendon, quicker contraction.

Question 7

Whats the benefit of a priming exercise on VO2 kinetics?

Answer 7

Completion of a priming exercise elicits an increase in the amplitude of the primary VO2
component and a reduction in the VO2
slow component.

Question 8

What occurs after a priming bout in the heavy exercise domain?

Answer 8

• Lead to moderate increase in blood lactate.
• Primed VO2 kinetics and increased time to exhaustion during subsequent severe intensity exercise by 19%.
• Increases the aerobic contribution to early exercise and reduces the slow component.
• Increases VO2 peak.

Question 9

What are the different types of warm up?

Answer 9

• Passive vs. Active.
• Specific vs. Non-specific.
• Scripted vs. free form.

Question 10

describe and give examples of a passive warm up.

Answer 10

• Allows increase in core temperature/muscle
  temperature without depletion of substrates.
• Often a lengthy period between end of warm up and start of
  competition.
• Muscle temperature begins to decline immediately after
  exercise cessation.
• Hot water immersion.
• Heated garments.

Question 11

What are the effects of a passive warm up on performance?

Answer 11

• Event duration ≤ 10 s: performance improved by
up to 6% (jumps, sprints etc).
• Event duration 10s to 5 min: variable results.
• Event duration ≥5 min: performance not improved
of may be impaired.

Question 12

Whats the benefits of combining a passive and active warm up?

Answer 12

• Improves muscle temperature maintenance in transition.

Question 13

What are the effects of an active warm up on performance?

Answer 13

• Event duration ≤ 10s: performance improved, slightly larger improvements than passive warm up.
• Event duration 10s to 5 min: improvements, if athlete not fatigued and VO2 at start of exercise elevated.
• Event duration ≥ 5 mins: variable results.

Question 14

What is a scripted warm up?

Answer 14

Set warm up that is the same each time.

Question 15

What are advantages of a scripted warm up?

Answer 15

• Assures adequate warm up.
• Fixed routine – get into ‘competition mode’.
• Can be confidence-inspiring.

Question 16

What are disadvantages of a scripted warm up?

Answer 16

• Doesn’t account for athlete, environment or competition.
• Can undermine athlete’s confidence if unable
  to execute as planned.

Question 17

What are the practical problems with a warm up before competition?

Answer 17

Warm up may still be possible however issues such as:
- Distance to start line.
- Athlete may be held in a waiting area.
- The environment they are in.
- The time between warm up and start of the competition.
↘︎ Causes a decrease in body temperature.
↘︎ Decrease in positive effects of warm up.

Question 18

Warm up recommendations for middle distance runners.

Answer 18

Completion of at least 1 race pace effort (at least 25% of the distance to be raced) is necessary to sufficiently prime runners .

Question 19

Warm up recommendations for sprint events.

Answer 19

• Completion of at least 5 near-race-pace efforts results in faster
  performance.
• A set of heavy resistance exercise (back squats) may enhance performance.

Question 20

Warm up recommendations for cycling.

Answer 20

• Shorter, lower intensity aerobic efforts, followed by a few activation sprint
efforts result in better cycling performance.
• Addition of sets of dynamic heavy-resistance exercises towards end of active warm up promotes sprint cycling performance.

Question 21

Warm up recommendations for swimming.

Answer 21

• Complete between ~500 – 1200m include at least one set of short duration race pace efforts towards end of pool warm up.
• Dry land – passive heat maintenance devices can be incorporated during
lengthy transition phases.

Question 22

Warm up recommendations for team sports.

Answer 22

• Include short sided games in pre-match warm up strategy, enhances subsequent
performance only if duration of warm up is ≤ 16 mins.
• Pre-match warm up should be completed as close to match start as
possible.
• Passive heat maintenance strategies considered in transition duration exceeds 10 min.

Question 23

What occurs in the initial stages of the second half?

Answer 23

• 20% elite football players have their least intense 15 min period.
• Physical performance markers decreased
between 45-60 min compared with first 15 min.
• Significant increased injury risk in first 20 min.

Question 24

What physiological changes occur at half time?

Answer 24

• Reduced core body temp.
• Reduced muscle temp.
• Changes in acid base balance.
• Drop in temp over half time – every 1% leads
to reduction in repeated sprint performance
by 3%.

Question 25

What are the benefits of a re-warm up?

Answer 25

• Shown to reduce negative impact induced by passive recovery.
• RWU based on small sided game improved subsequent skilled performance.

Question 26

What are the benefits of PAP in a re-warm up?

Answer 26

• Explosive bouts of exercise prior to exercise improve
performance.
• Effects of potentiation last longer than fatigue.
• Benefit to performance may be limited to initial stages of second half.

Question 27

What is hormonal priming and how can it be used effectively?

Answer 27

• High intensity exercise can promote rapid hormonal changes benefitting subsequent exercise.
• Video content watched prior to exercise can influence hormonal responses & subsequent physical performance.

Question 28

What nutritional strategies can be used at half time?

Answer 28

• Carbohydrate mouth rinsing positively influences perception of effort.
• Caffeine (Chewing gum).
• Hydration.

Question 29

What barriers are there to half time strategies?

Answer 29

• Logistical issues.
• Lack of equipment/facilities at away games.
• Lack of buy-in.
• Interfere with psychological preparations.
• Time.