01619nas a2200157   4500000000100000008004100001653002400042653001200066100001600078700001100094245010400105300001300209490000700222050000600229520122600235       2007                            d10aPeer Reviewed Paper10aChecked1 aHerbert Rob1 aLaw R.00aWarm-up reduces delayed-onset muscle soreness but cool-down does not: a randomised controlled trial  a91–95.0 v53  aN3 a<p>
Question: Does warm-up or cool-down (also called warm-down) reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness? Design: Randomised controlled trial of factorial design with concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis. Participants: Fifty-two healthy adults (23 men and 29 women aged 17 to 40 years). Intervention: Four equally-sized groups received either warm-up and cool-down, warm-up only, cool-down only, or neither warm-up nor cool-down. All participants performed exercise to induce delayed-onset muscle soreness, which involved walking backwards downhill on an inclined treadmill for 30 minutes. The warm-up and cooldown exercise involved walking forwards uphill on an inclined treadmill for 10 minutes. Outcome measure: Muscle soreness, measured on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Results: Warm-up reduced perceived muscle soreness 48 hours after exercise on the visual analogue scale (mean effect of 13 mm, 95% CI 2 to 24 mm). However cool-down had no apparent effect (mean effect of 0 mm, 95% CI –11 to 11 mm). Conclusion: Warm-up performed immediately prior to unaccustomed eccentric exercise produces small reductions in delayed-onset muscle soreness but cool-down performed after exercise does not.
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