Effect of Warm-up on Fitness Performance of Schoolchildren. A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction. The impact of different types of warm-up protocol on children's performance is clearly an unresolved issue that has not yet been satisfactorily investigated. Consequently, the purpose of this review was to analyze the current literature on the subject. Material and Methods. The first step was to perform a search in PROSPERO with the keyword warm up. After that, five electronic bibliographic databases were searched through until April 10th, 2021: Web of Science (all databases), Scopus, SportDiscus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Results. Six studies involving a total of 138 participants were included in the final analyses. Regarding the physical qualities that were assessed, 4 of the studies assessed strength through the vertical jump, 3 assessed running speed, one assessed anaerobic endurance (30 seconds) with a cycle ergometer and another assessed flexibility using the Sit & Reach. Conclusions. The practice of dynamic or specific warm-up before training appears to improve speed and strength performance compared to no warm-up in school-age children. However, the effects of warm-up on endurance and flexibility performance in school-age children need to be further investigated.