Optimal time-window for performance enhancement in basketball college players

Abstract

Objective: Warm-up (WU) is a widely accepted strategy to potentiate performance. However, acute performance enhance- ment is highly dependent on individual characteristics, exercise mode, and time-window to the activity. This study aimed to inves- tigate the effects of a 5- and 10-min passive rest after a basketball standard WU on physical performance and sympathetic stimulus associated salivary biomarkers. Methods: Nineteen college basketball players participated in the study. The physical performance was assessed by coun- termovement jump capacity, 20m linear sprint and handgrip strength. The players were tested before WU (Pre-WU), 5 min- utes after WU (Post-5’) and 10 minutes after WU (Post-10’). Saliva was sampled collected at each moment and flux, α-amylase activity and protein content were evaluated. A repeated measures analysis was computed to identify the effect of the time-window on the considered variables, and Cohen’s dunbiased as effect size was applied to identify pairwise differences Results: The time-windows factor showed significant effects (p< .001) in countermovement jump, 20m sprint, and saliva markers. Pairwise differences were identified for Pre-WU vs Post- 5’ and Pre-WU vs Post-10’ (with the small effect size for counter- movement jump and moderate to large for both 20m sprint and biochemical markers). Trivial results were identified when com- pared Post-5’ vs Post-10’ in jumping capacity and biochemical markers and a small decrease in the 20m sprint. Conclusions: Jumping and running performances were acutely enhanced after WU. An increase in α-amylase and protein accompa- nied these improvements. While jumping capacity was maintained during the entire time-window, the sprint ability declined from Post-5’ to Post-10’. These results bring critical practical implications for post WU routines, highlighting the importance of manipulating time-windows to enhance specific performance outcomes.