The effect of combining general warm-up with specific warm-up in bench press performance

The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specific warm-up vs general followed by a specific warm-up in the bench press exercise performance. Fourteen subjects, aged between 19 and 43 years (mean +/- SD: 26.2 +/- 6.9 years, 176.5 +/- 6.96 cm in height, 79.11 +/- 7.36 kg in weight) performed three sets of six repetitions of bench press exercise (80% 1 repetition maximum: 1RM) after a specific warm-up or a general warm-up followed by a specific warm-up, randomly. Mean propulsive velocity (MPV) and mean propulsive power (MPP) was assessed using a linear velocity transducer (T-Force System; Ergotech, Murcia, Spain). The results showed no significant differences between conditions in the maximal values of MPV (p = 0.37, d= 0.07) and MPP (p = 0.51, d = 0.05), however, it seems that protocol B tend to produce better overall results. In conclusion, results evidenced that the general warm-up does not interfere in the subsequent strength training performance, highlight that specific warm-up could be as efficient as the inclusion of a general warm-up before strength training.