Influence of Recovery Time on Warm-up Effects in Male Adolescent Athletes
The objective of this study was to look at the influence of recovery time following a dynamic warm-up compared to a static-stretch on power performance in male teenage athletes. Nineteen high school athletes were used in this study that played lacrosse and football as well as being resistance trained. Baseline tests were performed in the seated medicine ball toss and the vertical jump. The athletes warmed up in groups of 4-5 and were shown how to do the proper dynamic warm-up and static-stretch. They performed the vertical jump and the seated medicine ball chest toss following 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, and 22 minutes after the warm-up. The results showed that there were no significant differences in baseline between the medicine ball chest pass and the vertical jump before the dynamic warm-up or static-stretch. However, following a dynamic warm-up, vertical jump was significantly greater than the static stretch protocol for 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 minutes after the warm-up. On the other hand, there were no significant differences for seated medicine ball chest toss between the static stretch and the dynamic warm-up. The primary finding of this study is that male high school athletes following a dynamic warm-up resulted in a greater vertical jump performance for the first 18 minutes of recovery compared to a static stretch warm-up. This study was not affected as much in the upper body by static stretching compared to the lower body. Thus, it is beneficial for young athletes to perform a dynamic warm-up rather than static stretch when incorporating power exercises to a training regimen. More studies are needed to look at the effects of chronic and acute effects of various warm-up procedures in adolescent athletes to improve or enhance performance.