Editorial
Neiva PE
Marinho DA
Recieved on: 2023-03-09, Accepted on: 2023-03-15, Published on: 2023-03-23
In the last two decades, we have witnessed a growing interest in sports warm-up, supported by the increased number of studies that have been published and, consecutively, by the production of knowledge in this area[1,2]. The scientific community has been aware of the key role of warm-up not only for physical activity performance but also in other specific activities (e.g., labour efficiency, surgical procedures). Most physiological mechanisms involved are related to temperature change. In fact, the increase in temperature stimulates muscle contraction and the efficiency of metabolic reactions. On top of that, it facilitates the joint range of movement and therefore, it is suggested to prevent injuries. Together with this, the physical tasks performed during warm-up can cause additional changes (e.g., oxygen uptake and kinetics during exercise). All the above mentioned changes led to the general belief in the benefits of warm-up and contributed to its widespread practice.
Nevertheless, only recently the scientific community became somewhat consensual about the warm-up positive effects on performance (not so on injury prevention, as it lacks clear evidence that warm-up reduces injury rates)[1,2]. Why this took so long? The design of a study in warm-up seems simple and easy to apply (e.g., repeated measures design, assessing acute effects of different warm-up conditions in performance, physiological, and biomechanical variables). However, several difficulties exist, such as i) any task performed before the main evaluation test should be considered part of the warm-up and therefore, influencing warm-up conditions to be tested; ii) some evaluation tasks cannot be completed at maximal and/or in a real-context setting; iii) the difficulty to accurately measure what should be measure (e.g., team-sports performance); iv) the unknown risk of injury when performing maximal tasks without warming-up or after an inappropriate warm-up; v) the unknown variation in day-to-day individual performance. Most of these problems have only been overcome or reduced recently due to the new instruments and protocols that have emerged since the 2000s [e.g.,3].
In the last few years, findings were consistent to show that i) warm-up cause positive effects in individual and team sports, strength performance and specific physical exercises/tasks; ii) excessive load during warm-up (intensity and/or duration) impairs performances; iii) an optimal timing for the warm-up activities exists[1,2,4]. However, as knowledge deepened, new questions emerged. Most of the studies on warm-up showed some responses different from the mean results, highlighting the need for individualization of the warm-up structure (e.g., tasks, load, and rest). The idea of a single-subject/case-based approach is not new and is commonly used in other scientific areas. In sports sciences, this idea has started to gain prominence recently as a path for a deeper understanding of specific topics, contributing to increased transferability of research findings and bridging the gap between science and practice. To leap into more in-depth knowledge on the topic, researchers should understand the underlying causes of improved performance after appropriate warm-up, establishing clear associations between variables (e.g., physiological /biomechanical) and this way developing an efficient individual warm-up protocol for recreational and non-recreational subjects. This would be a step forward in providing effective feedback and maximizing research, training programs, and other physical tasks.
The relevance of warm-up has been highlighted in recent years, but still seems to be underestimated. We must understand that all the tasks (not only the physical ones) should be preceded by some preparation that allows us to perform better and prevent any subsequent failure. Besides, recently it was found that there may be an acute learning process during warm-up, suggesting an important role in sensorimotor adaptation to movement [5]. So, the influence of warm-up can be such that it interferes with the movement learning process. Ultimately, we can even suggest that inappropriate warm-ups during an experimental study could influence results and compromise scientific findings. This is an issue that has received little attention, but which, eventually, could determine the reliability of a result. A first step of investigation in sports warm-up was done and it is now time to move forward, facing the challenges of modern science. To increase the knowledge and to ensure the high quality and reliability of data there is a need to secure more funding for the research projects that should be developed under an interdisciplinary collaboration. Furthermore, walking the path towards the future must not blind researchers to the need for study replications to guarantee the credibility of the results over the years.