Effect of the pre-warm-up exercise program on muscle performance

Abstract

Problem statement: Pre-warm-up actions have gained popularity in soccer in recent years but their effectiveness has not been sufficiently researched. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a pre-warm-up exercise program, with emphasis on muscular activation and neuromuscular control, on selected performance and injury-related markers. Methods: The study involved twenty three soccer players (n = 23), each of whom was randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=13) that performed the pre-warmup exercise protocol or a control group (n = 10) that performed 5 minutes of cycling. The hip flexion Range of Motion, Countermovement jump, free hands countermovement jump, and Peak Torque of concentric knee extensors and concentric/eccentric knee flexors at 600/sec and 1800/sec, for both limbs, were measured using an isokinetic dynamometer before and immediately after exercise intervention. Conventional and Functional isokinetic strength ratios were also calculated for further analysis. Results:The results showed a significant improvement in the range of motion (5.4%), countermovement jump (4.7%), and knee flexor and extensor concentric peak torque in the dominant leg at 1800/sec (5% and 5.9%, respectively) in the experimental group, and a significant improvement in the countermovement jump (8.5%) in the control group. However, a significant decrease (-5.6%) was observed in the functional ratio at 1800/sec due to the greatest effect of pre-warm-up actions on the knee flexor and extensor concentric strength. Conclusions:The results indicate the effectiveness of pre-warm-up exercise program on most of the muscle performance markers. Further consideration is needed to improve the eccentric strength during warm-up.