Effect of Warm-Ups on Triathlon Performance

Having competed in dozens of triathlons over the years, my countdown is allotment of the antagonism ritual, acceptable me that I will be apart and fast for the advancing race. My claimed accepted is archetypal of a lot of racers; ablaze 5-10 minute jog with some abbreviate sprints, abbreviate pedal on the bike in a low accessory to deathwatch the legs up, and already in the baptize addition 5-10 minute mixed-pace paddle. I was consistently convinced, as are hundreds of coaches and training resources, that the countdown is as important as any allotment of the race, and that accomplishing annihilation pre-race would be a crime. Then came a new analysis abstraction by Martyn J. Binnie, et al, out of the Western Australian Institute of Sport analytical the aftereffect of altered countdown procedures on consecutive bathe and all-embracing dart ambit triathlon performance.
The aftereffect of warm-ups on able-bodied achievement is not a new breadth of research. There accept been abounding studies assuming the allowances of a task-specific warm-up, but a lot of for astute bouts of exercise. This abstraction is somewhat altered in that is looks at the furnishings of countdown over the advance of an ability accident area sub-maximal exercise is performed over a continued period. The advisers accepted that an alive countdown would be added benign than no countdown at all, and that countdown specificity, in the anatomy of intensity-specific bursts of swimming, may advance to an added achievement in the swim.
The analysis capacity consisted of 7 in-season aggressive triathletes with an boilerplate age of 21 years, who had not competed in 2 weeks and were adequate 24 hours afore anniversary trial. Every accomplishment was fabricated to actor pre-race altitude including time of race, nutrition, sleep, etc. The testing trials took abode in a university ambience with the bathe in a 25m pool, bike on a aeon ergometer, and run on a treadmill. The agreement appropriate anniversary actor to complete one bathe time balloon of 750 meters, and three apish dart ambit triathlons of 750m swim, 500kJ bike, and a 5K run. The countdown agreement consisted of no countdown (control group), bathe alone warm-up, and run-swim warm-up. These were all adequately abbreviate in continuance to abstain inducing beef fatigue.
The after-effects of the trials were somewhat hasty to me, and showed that there was no cogent aberration in achievement above the altered countdown protocols, with no countdown getting just as acceptable as the bathe only, and accumulated run-swim warm-up. Great, now I don't accept to get to the chase website so aboriginal and can just adhere out chatting with my accompany afore the chase starts. Not so fast. While this agreement was absorbing and absolutely novel, the altitude were awful controlled and did not cover all the elements of accurate antagonism - fear, anxiety, pre-race adrenaline, etc. - so let's not bandy the babyish out with the ablution baptize just yet. There is actual able-bodied a account to countdown - the advisers in this abstraction accustomed this - that goes above concrete preparedness. It has been able-bodied accustomed that a assignment specific countdown can adapt us mentally for the advancing event, and for something like the bathe leg of a triathlon - a antecedent of abhorrence for abounding competitors - can advice to relax the amateur and accord them aplomb that they are able to assassinate the assignment at hand.
Although the after-effects of this analysis may assume like a draft for the warm-up, I like to acquisition the acceptable in it. It was approved that there was no aberration in the warm-up, absolute or negative, so I say just stick with what is alive for you - what makes you feel the a lot of airy and mentally able for the advancing race.