Abstract

This study compared the effects of the pre-exercise warm-up on anaerobic power output in the 30 s Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). Fifteen physically active adult women (mean age +/- SD 23.4+/-2.9 years) performed the WAnT following three 7-min warm-up trials administered in random order on different days. The trials were: 1) light intensity - continuous cycling at 50 rpm, 1.5 kg load (75 W), 2) moderate intensity - continuous cycling at 50 rpm, 2 kg load (100 W), and 3) variable intensity - continuous cycling at 50 rpm, 15 kg load interspersed with four 7 s all-out sprints at the WAnT resistance setting. Mean power output (PO), 5 s peak power output (PPO), power decline (PD), pre- and post-exercise blood lactate levels (LA) were determined for each of the trials. One-way ANOVA and Tukeys post-hoc analysis showed significantly higher PO following the light-intensity trial as compared to the moderate-intensity one (281.0+/-42.5 and 266+/-50.9 W, respectively; P<0.05). PO following the variable-intensity trial was not significantly different from the other trials (274.7+/-42.3 W, P<0.05). There were no significant differences in PPO, PD or LA between any of the three trials (P<0.05). These findings suggest that a continuous, light-intensity cycling warm-up prior to the WAnT produces higher power output as compared to continuous, higher intensity warm-ups in physically active adult women. There appears to be no difference in the WAnT PO when comparing continuous and variable-intensity modes of warm-up. Verf.-Referat