Expert opinionWarmup
A review of warm-up strategies concluded that an active warm-up combining general aerobic work with task-specific preparation can enhance subsequent performance, largely through raised muscle temperature and post-activation potentiation, while excessive warm-up volume can cause fatigue. Warm-up should prime without draining.
Rule: Precede heavy training with a brief general warm-up plus a few ramp-up sets of the first exercise; avoid warm-ups long enough to induce fatigue.
- McGowan CJ, Pyne DB, Thompson KG, Rattray B (2015). Warm-Up Strategies for Sport and Exercise: Mechanisms and Applications doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0376-x