Effects of dynamic warm-up with and without a weighted vest on lower extremity power performance of high school male athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare lower extremity power performance utilizing the Margaria-Kalamen Power Test after a dynamic warm-up with and without a weighted vest. Sixteen (n = 16) high school male football players participated in two randomly ordered testing sessions. One session involved performing the football team's typical warm-up while wearing a vest weighted at 5% of the individual athlete's body weight before performing 3 trials of the Margaria-Kalamen Power Test. The second session involved performing the same team warm-up without wearing a weighted vest before performing 3 trials of the Margaria-Kalamen Power Test. The dynamic warm-up consisted of the following dynamic exercises, which lasted 5 minutes total: straight leg kicks, forward lunges, backward lunges, heel-rear kicks, high knees, stride-outs, deep lunges, and jogging. No significant difference was found in power performance between the non-resisted and resisted dynamic warm-up protocols (p = 0.161). It was concluded that a dynamic warm-up with a vest weighted at 5% of the athlete's body weight was not advantageous for increasing lower extremity power output in high school football players.