Acute effect of warm-up training on the static and dynamic balance indices in athletic and non-athletic subjects

Lack of balance during sport activities may results in the possibility of sports injuries. Recently, it has been shown that using of warm-up exercise may enhance sensitivity of mechanoreceptors, namely muscle spindle, and so preventing of injury during sport activities. This study was designed to find out the acute effect of warm-up training on the static and dynamic balance indices in athletic and non-athletic subjects. 64 university athletic students (16 male and 16 female) and university non-athletic students (16 male and 16 female) participated in a cross over study and were randomly assigned in one of the two experimental groups: warm-up group (5 minutes running on treadmill) and control group (no intervention), so that all participants attended in both warm-up and control groups in two assessing sessions with 2 weeks interval. Falling risk index, dynamic (bilateral standing) and static (single leg standing) overall, anterior-posterior and medial-lateral indices were assessed by measuring centre of pressure displacement during both eye-open and closed-eye condition before and after the intervention. The comparison of mean changes before and after intervention in both groups showed no significant difference in static balance indices in eye-open condition between groups (p>0.05), while static balance indices in closed-eye condition and dynamic balance indices in both, eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions were significantly improved after warm-up, compared to the control group (p<0.05). After warm-up intervention, falling risk index was reduced significantly (p<0.05) in both athletic and non-athletic participants. No significant difference was found between athletic and non-athletic subjects, in term of static and dynamic balance indices. These results showed that general warm-up training may improve static and dynamic balance control and falling risk in both athletic and non-athletic groups. From these findings may conclude that performing general warm-up training prior to sport activity may prevent of sport injuries by enhancing balance control.