The effects of a cycling warm-up including high-intensity heavy-resistance conditioning contractions on subsequent 4 km time trial performance

Abstract

Prior exercise has been shown to improve subsequent performance via different mechanisms. Sport-specific conditioning contractions can be used to exploit the 'post-activation potentiation' (PAP) phenomenon to enhance performance although this has rarely been investigated in short endurance events. The aim of this study was to compare a cycling warm-up with PAP-inducing conditioning contractions (CW) with a moderate intensity warm-up (MW) on performance and physiological outcomes of 4 km time trial. Ten well-trained male endurance cyclists (V[Combining Dot Above]O2max 65.3 +/- 5.6 ml[middle dot]kg-1[middle dot]min-1) performed two 4 km cycling time trials following a 5-minute recovery after a warm-up at 60% of V[Combining Dot Above]O2max for 6.5-minutes (MW), and a warm-up with conditioning contractions (CW) consisting of 5 minutes at 60% of V[Combining Dot Above]O2max then 3 x 10-seconds at 70% of peak power interspersed with 30-seconds recovery. Blood lactate concentrations were measured before and after time trial. Expired gases were analysed along with time, power output (PO), and peak forces over each 500 m split. Following CW, mean completion time was reduced (1.7 +/- 3.5 s p > 0.05), PO increased (5.1 +/- 10.5 W p > 0.05) as did peak force per pedal stroke (5.7 +/- 11 N p > 0.05) when compared to MW. V[Combining Dot Above]O2 increased (1.4 +/- 1.6 ml[middle dot]kg-1[middle dot]min-1 p < 0.05) following CW, whilst RER decreased (0.05 +/- 0.02 p < 0.05). Physiological and performance differences following CW were greatest over the first 1500 m of the trials. The results suggest a PAP-inducing warm-up alters V[Combining Dot Above]O2 kinetics and can lead to performance improvements in short endurance cycling but work and recovery durations should be optimised for each athlete.