Acute effects of different rest period durations after warm-up and dynamic stretching on endurance running performance in male runners

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to compare the acute effects of different rest period durations after general warm-up (GWU) and dynamic stretching (DS) on endurance running performance.Methods Eight male runners performed endurance running performance tests after three types of intervention. The interventions were as follows: (1) GWU + 5 min Rest, (2) GWU + DS + 5 min Rest, and (3) GWU + DS + 10 min Rest. The GWU consisted of running exercises on a treadmill at a velocity equivalent to 70% of maximum oxygen uptake (VO(2)max) for 15 min. The DS consisted of performing 10 repetitions as quickly as possible for the five muscle groups of the lower extremities. Endurance running performance was measured by time to exhaustion (TTE) during running on the treadmill at a velocity equivalent to 90% VO(2)max.Results TTE (884.5 +/- 244.9 s) after GWU + DS + 10 min Rest intervention was significantly (p < 0.05) longer than that (719.8 +/- 227.9 s) after GWU + 5 min Rest. TTE (734.5 +/- 274.2 s) after GWU + DS + 5 min Rest intervention was not significantly different than that of the other two interventions.Conclusion The results demonstrated that the endurance running performance at the velocity equivalent to 90% VO(2)max was enhanced by GWU + DS + 10 min Rest, but not GWU + DS + 5 min Rest. We recommend that runners rest for approximately 10 min after GWU + DS to enhance endurance running performance.