Gradual decline in performance and changes in biochemical parameters of basketball players while resting after warm-up

Warm-up is used before every competitive sporting activity as a means to activate the body, reduce the risk of injury and increase performance in subsequent tasks. However, there is little information on how long the effects of warm-up last. This is of particular interest in basketball playing, since no rewarm-up is allowed to players who sit on the bench. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine changes in performance and biochemical parameters of basketball players while resting after warm-up. On each of four consecutive days, 14 elite basketball players (7 male and 7 female) performed a structured warm-up program, after which they had body temperature measured, provided blood samples and performed countermovement jump and 20-m run tests. Then, they rested for either 10, 20, 30 or 40 min in a random, counterbalanced order. Temperature measurement, blood sampling, and performance testing were repeated after each rest interval. Body temperature and countermovement jump decreased gradually during rest (p < 0.05 for linear trend), whereas 10- and 20-m run times increased gradually (p < 0.05 for linear trend). Serum glucose decreased during rest (p = 0.028) independent of interval duration. We conclude that there is a relatively fast decline in jumping and running performance when basketball players remain inactive after warm-up. Our study highlights the need to address the rapid drop in performance after warm-up for the basketball players who do not participate in a game from the start.