Impact of different warm-up procedures on a 50-yard swimming sprint

This study investigated to what degree three different warm-up routines affect 50-yard swim performance (45.7m). The 4 female and 9 male participants, NCAA Division I swimmers, performed on three different days, a general swimming warm-up (SWIM), a combination of plyometric exercises and swimming warm-up (COMBO), or a single 50yard Swim at 90% of the maximum effort (SHORT). Each treatment was followed by 50-Yard Freestyle swimming Sprint at maximal effort following a 5-minute rest period after the completion of each warm-up procedure. Self-reported heart rate was recorded after each maximal effort. The time of each trial was recorded using a standard Colorado Timing System. Although the 50y sprint performance was not significantly affected by the SWIM, the SHORT and the COMBO warm-up (23.79 sec ±2.32), (23.74 sec ±2.12), (23.63sec ± 2.21) respectively, 7 out of the 13 swimmers swam their fastest time with the SHORT warm-up and only three swam their fastest with the conventional warm-up (SWIM). Heart rates, on the other hand, were significantly (p<.05) higher following the SHORT warm up compared to the SWIM and the COMBO warm ups. However, individual differences revealed that some athletes could benefit from a plyometric/swimming warm-up in order to improve overall swimming performance, especially when considering that a few hundredths of a second would make a significant difference in the outcome of a given race, It appears that the standard warm-up may not produce the best results for all swimmers. It is important to look at individual data when dealing with elite athletes.