Abstract:
Background: Dynamic warm-up is often considered the recommended warm-up
technique in preparation for physical exertion, while foam rolling is traditionally used as a form
of myofascial release recent studies have explored it as an alternative warm-up technique. While
it is necessary to properly prepare the muscles for activity to aid in reduction of risk, the landing
phase of a jump is one of the most impactful times on the lower body that a person endures
throughout practice or game play and has been largely overlooked by previous research assessing
foam rolling as a warm-up method. The purpose of this study was to compare a foam rolling
warm-up procedure to a dynamic warm-up procedure in athletes involving maximum
countermovement jumps. It was hypothesized that loading rate, vertical GRF, hip adduction and
internal rotation, and knee abduction would decrease, while knee and hip flexion would be
higher after foam rolling. Study Design: This is an experimental crossover study. Methods:
Twelve female participants (19.33 ± 1.22 years; 1.65 ± 0.05 m; 66.04 ± 8.51 kg) performed
maximal countermovement jumps prior to and post-warm-up interventions. All participants
completed two collection days that randomly assigned the foam rolling warm-up and the
dynamic warm-up as the intervention. Motion capture and force data were collected to calculate
joint motion and loading during landing. Results: Significant differences were revealed for
loading rate (p=0.041) when collapsed across time between foam rolling and the dynamic warmup. Interaction effects revealed significance for peak knee abduction angle (p=0.040). Several
additional variables revealed small and medium effect sizes between both pre/post-warm-up and
between warm-up interventions. Significance was also revealed for all ROM testing except sitand-reach after FR (p=0.165). Conclusion: Warm-up acceptability and superior benefits of one
over the other cannot necessarily be made because of lack of significant data needed to draw
overall conclusions. Future studies analyzing muscle activity, hormonal fluctuations, muscle
temperature, and specific sport background into account before being implemented by coaches.
