Warm up and stretching activities are typically used by competitive and recreational athletes to enhance physical performance and to prevent sports related injuries. The present study evaluates the effects of various warm-up protocols on endurance, blood lactate concentration and VO2max. 15 healthy male participants were randomly exposed to each of three different warm up protocols with a 2 days' gap in between in a random sequence. Each warm up protocol was preceded by 5 min of jogging, that is, Protocol I (P-I): Static stretching, Protocol II (PII): Moderate to high intensity dynamic exercises, Protocol III (PIII): Dynamic stretching and Control group: only jogging. It was preceded and followed by determination of blood lactate concentration (P-LM5 Analyser), VO2max and treadmill performance test at 65% to 75% heart rate reserve. Results showed a more significant decrease in blood lactate concentration after PII (t=16.91) than > PIII (t=11.72) and > PI (t=12.45); p < 0.001, also there was more significant increase in VO2max with PII (t=10.82) than > PIII (t=5.11) and > PI (t=4.13); p< 0.001. Similar results were observed for treadmill time to exhaustion [PII (t=4.69)> PIII (t=3.27); (p<0.05)> PI (t=1.91)] respectively. It is concluded that dynamic warm up exercises may be a more viable method for enhancing endurance than stretching.
© Copyright 2008 Serbian Journal of Sports Sciences. Sports Academy. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.