Effects of warm-up on isokinetic measures at the knee.

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of warm-up on peak torque and on torque accelerated energy of the muscles at the knee. Twenty-two male subjects participated in this study and had the following characteristics (standard deviations in parentheses): age, M = 23.22 years (2.50); height, M = 68.48 inches (9.95); and weight, M = 199.90 pounds (44.90). Subjects were habitually active and had no history of joint disease or acute joint trauma. Prior to testing, subjects attended an orientation session where they became familiar with the testing instrument and procedures. Each subject was tested twice on a Cybex 340 Extremity Testing System: (1) control condition involving measurement with no warm-up and (2) experimental condition involving measurement following warm-up. All warm-up was completed on a stationary bicycle ergometer. Subjects pedaled for five minutes at a cadence of 50 RPM with a resistance sufficient to elicit 50% heart rate reserve. Subjects were tested at 60 degrees per second and at 180 degrees per second. Peak torque and torque accelerated energy measures were obtained for both legs, and test results were gravity corrected as per manufacturer's recommendations. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis to determine if a significant difference existed between peak torque with no warm-up and peak torque following warm-up and between torque accelerated energy with no warm-up and torque accelerated energy measured following warm-up. The results of the analysis indicated there were no significant differences in peak torque or in torque accelerated energy measures as a result of warm-up.