Everyone knows warming up is essential, or is it?
Most cyclists feel a responsibility to warm up but many are uncertain of how to do it.
In this guide, I’ll lay out the evidence-based foundation of the warm-up while offering specific suggestions for how you might tailor a warm-up to the specific demands of your event. Let’s jump in.
If you’ve been told to warm up before a cycling event, it’s probably been for one of the reasons below.
Reduce Injury Risk
Popular wisdom states that warming up is mandatory for reducing the risk of injury, but the available evidence isn’t so conclusive [1].
A 2006 review article examining whether the warm-up reduced injury risk looked at five randomized and controlled studies.
Three studies offered evidence that warming up may reduce injury risk, while two did not. What should you take from the conflicting findings of this review article? Maybe not much.
The three studies favoring warming up used an active warm-up in which body/muscle temperature was elevated.
The two studies not showing a reduced injury risk used a passive warm-up of stretching only.
To make a long story short, you’ll likely reduce your injury risk if you actively warm up, but not if you’re simply stretching.
Elevate Muscle Temperature
To get the minimum benefit of a warm-up and reduce our risk for injury, we need to elevate our muscle temperature.
This increase in muscle temperature may also help to improve our cycling performance [2].
In short, a warmer muscle is more powerful and efficient than a cooler muscle, provided we’re not warming up too much. We’ll get to this point later, but for now, warming up seems important in providing the best state to begin any cycling event, especially those that begin with intense effort.
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Prime the “Aerobic Pump”
For an endurance sport like cycling, it’s generally an advantage for your oxidative (aerobic) energy system to carry as much of the workload of pedaling as possible.
In simple terms, our aerobic energy system is less fatigable than our “anaerobic” energy systems.
The superior endurance capacity of the aerobic energy system is why warming up can be especially effective for events that begin with a high energy demand from the start (like a time trial).
In effect, a well-executed warm-up can “prime” your aerobic energy system to supply a greater proportion of energy to power the pedals the moment you begin a hard effort.
A “primed” aerobic system helps you produce power “aerobically” sooner in your effort, conserving more limited “anaerobic” energy reserves for later in your effort [3].
Activate PAP
Post-activation potentiation or “PAP,” is the phenomena by which a recent “history” of muscle contraction may enhance future performance [4].
In a practical sense, research has shown that doing a heavy strength exercise, like a leg press approximately 10 minutes before starting may enhance performance on a 20k time trial [5].
The PAP phenomena is well established in strength and power sport, but its impact on an endurance sport like cycling is less well known and wide open for further discovery [6].
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Prepare Your Mind
Racing a bicycle can be incredibly stressful, which is why one benefit of warming up is to create the mental space to focus and review your strategy heading into any type of cycling event.
Research suggests that “self-directed cognitive strategies” like psyching yourself up before a bench press can improve your force production [7].
Comparing “psych-up” strategies for a bench press to the world of cycling may not offer the most applicable comparison, but it seems reasonable that developing a routine during your warm-up to help focus and channel your energy before an event may give you the best shot at achieving a peak performance.
Another way to harness free motivation prior to an event is to listen to music. In a recent study, researchers found that rowers who listened to their own preferred music while warming up improved their power output and finishing time compared to those who listened to someone else’s music, or no music at all [8].
The takeaway? The warm-up period offers an opportunity to improve subsequent performance via physical and psychological avenues.
Before we jump into a list of practical recommendations for warming up, let’s loop back to determine how ambient temperature can play a role in your warm-up strategy.
Pay Attention to the Temperature
While elevating muscle temp can lead to improved performance, an increase in core temperature can degrade performance [9].
That’s why it makes sense to modify your warm-up by cutting back on how hard and how long your warm-up is whenever it’s especially hot out [10].
In the same way high temperatures should have you avoiding big increases in core temperature, cold temperatures should have you preserving increased muscle temperature as close to your start time as possible [11].
Here’s how you might modify your warm-up to go either way.
If it’s hot
- Keep your warm-up shorter, or cut it all together
- Reduce the intensity of your warm-up to minimize rise in core temp
- Warm-up in the shade, have extra water to pour/spray
- After warming up, sit in air-conditioned car avoiding direct sun
If it’s cold
- Bring the end of your warm-up closer to the start of your event
- Plan out a layering strategy that allows you to retain as much heat for as long as possible before the start of your event
- Increase the intensity of your warm-up
- Drink warm liquids
- After your warm-up, put on sweatpants to keep legs warm
Stop it, the warm-up doesn’t matter
Before we get carried away with the magical powers of the warm-up, it’s important to call out recent research suggesting that the warm-up might not actually matter after all.
A recent study compared three different warm-up conditions before a 20k time trial. The first condition followed a traditional warm-up with 10m of riding at a moderate intensity. The second condition sought to activate PAP with some moderate riding followed by three 10s all-out sprints. The third condition was no warm-up at all.
Researchers found that both the standard and PAP warmup improved jumping ability when compared to the “no warm-up” condition but not subsequent cycling performance [12].
Should this research have you ditching your warm-up routine all-together?
Under some conditions (like when it’s hot) ditching your warm-up might make sense, but for most other cycling contexts, I think dialing in a warm-up routine still makes the most sense and that’s where we’re headed next.
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Customizing Your Warm-up
In our final section we’ll examine how you might combine the best warm-up recommendations from science into simple guidelines for most cycling events you might encounter.
We’ll start with the time trial.
Time Trial
The time trial warm-up will probably be the most useful and widely applicable across most cycling events.
Because a time trail will always start out near a maximal sustainable intensity, we’ll use a structured warm-up designed to prime our aerobic pump and prepare the body for intense exercise from the start.
**If you need a primer on RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion), make sure to check out our complete guide at this link.
For time trials, warming up on a stationary trainer is your best bet. Since “priming the aerobic pump” leans on sustained increases in ride intensity, make sure to pay attention to outdoor temperatures and scale your warm-up accordingly.
Here are the steps illustrated in the image above
- 5m @ RPE 1
- 5m @ RPE 4
- 3m @ RPE 7
- 3m @ RPE 8
- 4m @ RPE 1
- Off the bike 10m before start of TT
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Whether you’re a beginner eager to complete your first fondo, or a seasoned pro aiming to refresh the foundational principles of long-term cycling success, this time-efficient guide offers invaluable insights into why and how you can Ride Basic.
Criterium
Unlike a time trial which always begins intensely, a criterium poses near limitless options for how it may start.
In short, your crit warm-up should be tailored to the demands of the course alongside your planned tactics.
Here are a few course and tactical descriptions that may alter your warm-up routine.
- Technical course with challenging corners or small climbs
- TT warmup is a good fit as you’ll want to prepare for sustained intensity from the whistle.
- Aggressive tactics from the whistle (establishing a break or covering attacks).
- Inserting some sprints in your warmup to initiate PAP might be helpful in preparing your legs for near maximal sprint efforts from the start of a race (example pictured above).
- Wide open course, sitting in for the sprint.
- If you’re one to skip your warm-up, this type of crit is probably the place to do it. If you don’t plan on working hard until the finish, a light warm-up to increase muscle temperature (as illustrated in the road race/gravel section), or even skipping all together if it’s hot, or cold (stay in the car) is probably the best call.
Here are the steps illustrated in the image above
- 5m @ RPE 1
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 10s @ RPE 10
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 10s @ RPE 10
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 10s @ RPE 10
- 3m @ RPE 4
- 2m @ RPE 8
- 4m @ RPE 1
- Off the bike 10m before start of Crit
Road Race/Gravel
Road and gravel events are like criteriums in that your warm-up strategy should be dictated by course and tactical considerations.
How do you see the event starting? If starting with a long and sustained climb, then opting for a TT style warm-up makes the most sense.
If you anticipate the event to start at a leisure pace without any primary efforts for at least 20 or 30 minutes, then using ambient temperature to dictate your warm-up strategy makes sense.
If you anticipate an aggressive/explosive start to the event, it might be helpful to include a few sprints to best prepare your mind and body for near maximal effort.
Here are the steps illustrated in the image above
- 5m @ RPE 1
- 5m @ RPE 4
- 3m @ RPE 6
- 2m @ RPE 1
- Off the bike 15m before the start of race/event. Take that extra time to prep nutrition and double check your bike.
CX
The best reference point for a good CX warm-up is probably a time trial in that they both start near a maximal intensity and require a sustained (time trial continuous and CX intermittent) high intensity from start to finish.
Since CX races are usually held in the fall and winter months, maintaining muscle and core temperature before your start becomes a primary consideration.
For a typical CX race held in colder conditions, we’ll aim for a hybrid style warm-up to prime our aerobic pump, initiate PAP for a quick start, and try and maintain muscle temp as close to the start as possible.
Here are the steps illustrated in the image above
- 5m @ RPE 1
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 10s @ RPE 10
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 10s @ RPE 10
- 2m @ RPE 4
- 2m @ RPE 8
- 6m @ RPE 4
- 6m @ RPE 1
- Off the bike 5m before start of Crit or arriving as warm as possible.
In Closing
Whatever style of event, here’s a workflow to include the best practices from exercise science alongside weather considerations to nail a warm-up that will give you the best chance possible for success.
Temperature
If hot, reduce core temp before start.
If cold, extend warm-up closer to start or wear clothes to stay warm until start.
Tactics
Tailor your warm-up to prepare for the most likely scenario you expect to play out at the start of the event.
Time
Work backwards from your start to create sufficient time to register, prep your bike, get kitted, and complete your warm-up.
Relax
Cover the basics (like bike prep and dialing nutrition) before stressing about a perfect warm-up. If you have to skip your warm-up you’ll be fine.
References
- Fradkin, A.J., B.J. Gabbe, and P.A. Cameron, Does warming up prevent injury in sport?: The evidence from randomised controlled trials? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2006. 9(3): p. 214-220.
- Racinais, S. and J. Oksa, Temperature and neuromuscular function. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2010. 20 Suppl 3: p. 1-18.
- Bailey, S.J., et al., Optimizing the “priming” effect: influence of prior exercise intensity and recovery duration on O2 uptake kinetics and severe-intensity exercise tolerance. J Appl Physiol (1985), 2009. 107(6): p. 1743-56.
- Tillin, N.A. and D. Bishop, Factors modulating post-activation potentiation and its effect on performance of subsequent explosive activities. Sports Med, 2009. 39(2): p. 147-66.
- Silva, R.A.S., et al., Acute Prior Heavy Strength Exercise Bouts Improve the 20-km Cycling Time Trial Performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 2014. 28(9): p. 2513-2520.
- Boullosa, D., et al., Title: Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) in Endurance Sports: A Review. 2018.
- Tod, D., J. Hardy, and E. Oliver, Effects of self-talk: a systematic review. Journal of sport & exercise psychology, 2011. 33: p. 666-687.
- Karow, M.C., et al., Effects of Preferred and Nonpreferred Warm-Up Music on Exercise Performance.Percept Mot Skills, 2020. 127(5): p. 912-924.
- González-Alonso, J., et al., Influence of body temperature on the development of fatigue during prolonged exercise in the heat. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1999. 86: p. 1032-1039.
- Jones, P.R., et al., Pre-cooling for endurance exercise performance in the heat: a systematic review.BMC Med, 2012. 10: p. 166.
- Faulkner, S.H., et al., Reducing muscle temperature drop after warm-up improves sprint cycling performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2013. 45: p. 359-365.
- Barranco-Gil, D., et al., Warming Up Before a 20-Minute Endurance Effort: Is It Really Worth It?International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2020. 15(7): p. 964.