The following is based on research from C. Earnest and M. Harden, titled: "The Effects of Warm-Up Modalities on Trampoline Flight Time Performance" For the original paper, please go to https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280316108. This link was last accessed on 17 March 2019.
Warm-ups are a crucial part of training as they prepare athletes for exercise, both mentally and physically, and can reduce the likelihood of injuries occurring. Coaches and athletes have many opinions and ideas about they believe a warm-up should include, but if one investigates the research and evidence, it becomes clearer that some warm-ups are useful, some are useless, and some are detrimental.
Earnest and Harden put 10 female trampoline athletes with at least three years competition experience through six different warm-ups. Athletes completed each warm-up, followed by five minutes of rest, then completed 10 maximal effort bounces from a standing start.
The Earnest and Harden study found that the following factors helped athletes jump higher in their 10 maximal effort bounces:
It is well known, across all sports and athletes, that static stretching decreases muscular strength and power. Static stretching can be a useful tool, but it takes 15 minutes of dynamic activities for strength and power to return to normal levels. As one would expect, the present study found that static stretching, followed by no dynamic warm-up, decreased performance in the 10 maximal effort bounce test.
Warm-ups also need to be sports specific and build up to the activity athletes are going to perform. For trampolining, this means that some of the warm-up should be performed on the trampoline. The present study confirmed this, finding that including 10 trampoline bounces into the warm-up improved athlete's performance in their 10 maximal effort bounces.
Post-activation potentiation is a phenomenon where near maximal effort strength and power exercises improve subsequent strength and power exercises. An example of this in trampolining would be to perform 3-4 weighted squats at 80-85% of an athletes 1RM followed by 3-5 minutes rest and then the 10 maximal effort bounces. The present study attempted to elicit the effects of post-activation potentiation in the warm-up by instructing athletes to perform 3 sets of 5 drop jumps (with 30 seconds rest between sets) or 5 reps of a 3 second maximal isometric mid-thigh pull. The study found that both modalities decreased performance in the 10 maximal effort bounces.
It is quite likely that the protocols in the present study caused too much fatigue and resultantly, fatigue outweighed the positive effects of post activation potentiation. The present study used maximal effort exercises for high volumes with little rest. Other protocols utilising low volumes of high intensity exercises in the warm-up have been known to improve performance. More research needs to be done to determine the benefits of eliciting post-activation potentiation for trampolining.
Warm-ups are important for performance and injury reduction. Static stretching is useful to increase flexibility and decrease muscle activation in muscles that are overactive. Static stretching should be followed by at least 15 minutes of dynamic stretching, muscle activation exercises and exercises that are specific to the movements required for trampolining. Finally, athletes should warm-up on the trampoline, with trampoline jumps before they are expected to perform their routines and training session.
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