Warming up before a workout helps your muscles work better

Many people believe that a good workout helps to become stronger. However, a recent analysis of dozens of scientific papers has shown that muscles themselves do not become more powerful, but their ability to quickly engage in work increases markedly.

The peculiarity is that when moving, not only strength is important, but also the speed with which the muscle is able to strain. Even an increase in temperature of just a couple of degrees — from 35 to 37-38 °C — makes the fibers more pliable and speeds up the reaction. This is manifested in a sudden start, sudden braking and a rapid change of direction. That’s why athletes and doctors talk about “explosive” muscle strength.

Interestingly, the warm—up works regardless of whether it was active (for example, running, jumping, exercising) or passive, when the muscles are heated externally. In both cases, the rate of contractions and power are increased, but not the maximum effort.

For practice, this means that before sprinting, playing tennis or soccer, the muscles will work faster and more efficiently after warming up. This effect is especially important for athletes, where fractions of a second decide the outcome of a match, and for patients who need to react quickly when walking in order not to lose their balance.

Interestingly, the active warm-up showed a slight advantage over the passive, but the difference was not statistically significant. A possible reason is the effect of postactivation, when muscles increase slightly in size for a short time after exertion. However, there is not enough data yet to confirm this unequivocally.

The authors emphasize that the final conclusions are still ahead. Too few studies have been conducted on large groups and with different types of exercises. In addition, a lot depends on which movements were used to warm up: sometimes an ill-chosen warm-up can lead to fatigue and reduce the result.

Nevertheless, the picture is clear: warming up is not a way to increase strength, but a tool for speed, coordination, and muscle and ligament strength. Therefore, it remains an obligatory part of training and sports competitions, and in the future its role may be studied more deeply in medical rehabilitation.