REF-300 · Stewart IB & Sleivert GG, 1998 · Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, · Paper · PubMed
The Effect of Warm-up Intensity on Range of Motion and Anaerobic Performance
15 min running at 60% or 70% VO2max improved treadmill time-to-fatigue (+10% and +13%) in 9 men; 80% VO2max did not; warm-up intensity had little effect on ROM
Participants
n=9 males (age 21.7 ± 1.6 y, height 1.77 ± 0.04 m, mass 80.2 ± 6.8 kg, VO2max 60.4 ± 5.4 mL/kg/min)
Protocol
4 trials: no warm-up, or 15 min running at 60, 70 or 80% VO2max, each followed by a series of lower-limb stretches
Each trial: hip, knee and ankle ROM (electronic inclinometer) then an anaerobic capacity test on the treadmill — time to fatigue at 13 km/h on a 20% grade
Heart rate and body temperature recorded before the anaerobic test
Key Results
Warm-up intensity had little effect on ROM: ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension increased in ALL warm-up conditions; hip flexion increased only after the 80% VO2max warm-up; knee flexion did not change after any warm-up
Heart rate and body temperature were raised (p < 0.05) before the anaerobic test in every warm-up condition
Anaerobic performance (time to fatigue) improved significantly only after the 60% VO2max warm-up (+10%) and the 70% VO2max warm-up (+13%); the 80% VO2max warm-up did not produce a significant improvement
Authors' recommendation: a 15-min warm-up at 60-70% VO2max to improve ROM and enhance subsequent anaerobic performance
Mechanism
All three warm-ups raised heart rate and body temperature, and all improved ankle and hip-extension ROM — so the temperature/ROM goals of a warm-up were met at every intensity. Inference (the authors'): the hardest warm-up (80% VO2max) likely added fatigue that offset the readiness benefit for a supramaximal treadmill run, which is why only the moderate intensities improved time to fatigue.
Practical Application
In 9 trained men (VO2max 60), 15 min of running at 60% or 70% VO2max improved a supramaximal treadmill time-to-fatigue test by 10% and 13% versus no warm-up; a warm-up at 80% VO2max gave no significant improvement — a hard warm-up did not help a short all-out effort
ROM: any of the three warm-ups improved ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension; going harder did not buy more flexibility (only hip flexion needed the 80% warm-up)
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: a moderate 15-min aerobic warm-up (roughly zone 2 to low zone 3 by heart rate) before short, hard efforts; save the intensity for the event
Warm-up structure and the intensity question in general: see Bishop 2003 [REF-264, REF-265]
Limitations
1998 study — older methodology
Treadmill time-to-fatigue test only (13 km/h, 20% grade) — not a sport-specific event
Small sample (n=9), men only
Warm-ups all included stretching, so the ROM effects are running + stretching, not running alone
How this entry was checked and changed
Content correction 2026-09-27
"n=12 physically active adults; 40/60/70% VO2max; 30-s Wingate" -> the abstract: n=9 men (VO2max 60.4), four conditions (no warm-up, 60/70/80% VO2max), anaerobic test = treadmill time to fatigue at 13 km/h and 20% grade; no Wingate.
"Higher intensity warm-up → greater ROM improvement" -> intensity had little effect on ROM (ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension improved in all conditions; only hip flexion required 80%; knee flexion unchanged).
"No significant difference in anaerobic performance across intensities" -> performance improved only after 60% (+10%) and 70% (+13%) VO2max, not after 80%.
Sport general -> running; Tier annotated with the abstract's VO2max; Wingate tag removed.