Background: Preparatory exercises (warm-up) are believed to induce improvements in physical performance, but the mechanisms underlying this effect are not well understood. Performance enhancements may be associated with increased muscle temperature but also with changes in perceptual and/or psychological aspects, independently. Aim: To compare the effects of different muscle temperatures resulting from preparatory exercises on specific high-intensity physical performance in a swimming pool, as well as on perceptual responses. Methods: Study subjects were nine national level swimmers (8 men/1 woman; age 20,2 + 2,3 years). They carried out a 50-meter all-out crawl leg kick with a board. Perceptual responses were assessed through an analogous visual scale prior to three different situations: 0°C -no warm-up-, and with expected increases of +1°C and +2°C in muscle temperature induced by a continuous exercise protocol on a stationary bicycle, with individualized intensities and exercise durations (+1°C, 4min24sec + 1min12sec and +2°C, 8min48sec + 1min54sec) to achieve the desired temperature changes based on a prior data collection. In the previous data collection to determine exercise protocols, the intramuscular temperature was assessed using a probe inserted in the right vastus lateralis. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures was used to compare the experimental situations.
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