When Serena Williams talks about longevity in sports, she emphasizes routine, focus, and preparation. This is where prevention begins: before the first repetition. Warm-up and cool-down are not trivial; rather, they serve as the invisible bridge between ambition and resilience. For high performers—whether at the weights, on the court, or in everyday life—this bridge determines whether performance explodes or injuries impede.

An effective warm-up is more than just "loosening up." It raises the body’s core temperature, activates the neuromuscular systeminterplay of nerves and muscles, improves the gliding ability of connective tissuereduced friction in fascia and tendons, and establishes movement specificitywarm-up movement patterns resemble the actual sport. The cool-down serves to actively calm the body: lowering the heart rate, normalizing temperature, transporting metabolic byproducts more quickly—a reset for the next training session. Crucially, it is about fit: A sprinter warms up differently than a rower; a heat run requires different strategies than an indoor workout. "How" is more important than "whether": duration, intensity, and sequence must align with the goal, sport, and environment.

Good preparation is injury preventive—but not automatically so. A systematic review found a trend: warm-up reduces injury risk, even if not every study showed a significant effect ^[1]. In other words: when done correctly, it is worth it. When done incorrectly, it can even be harmful. A common mistake is an ultra-short warm-up of under five minutes before intense sessions—this diminishes readiness for performance and unnecessarily increases the risk of overuse injuries and strains ^[1]. Also problematic is static stretching without sports context immediately prior to explosive actions. The literature shows that static stretching can temporarily dampen strength performance unless it is combined with sport-specific activation that neutralizes this effect ^[2]. And the environment matters: in high heat, warm-up without heat management can increase thermal stress. Studies suggest that pre-cooling (e.g., ice drinks, cooling vests) reduces thermal strain, even if time trial performance does not necessarily improve ^[3]. For high performers, this means: warm-up protects—if it is executed intelligently, specifically, and contextually.

A high-quality review of warm-ups and injury prevention analyzed randomized studies and found a weight distribution favoring lower injury risk, despite heterogeneous results ^[1]. For practice, this means: the evidence is not perfect, but the balance supports a structured warm-up, especially before intense or complex movements. In experiments regarding the stretching issue, it was shown that static stretching can temporarily lower performance parameters; however, it is interesting that sport-specific activation could compensate for these losses afterward. In a study with isokinetic knee extensions, there were no losses after a three-part warm-up with static stretching compared to a warm-up without stretching, as the sport-specific block neutralized the negative effects ^[2]. This is crucial for disciplines that involve explosive components: it is not stretching per se that is the problem, but the lack of a subsequent suitable activation stimulus. Finally, regarding temperature: at 33°C, pre-cooling—alone or combined with warm-up—improved thermophysiological markers (lower core temperature, lower skin temperature, and sweat rate at the start) without significantly increasing time trial performance ^[3]. The mechanism is clear: reduced heat stress alleviates cardiovascular and thermoregulation load, which can be especially relevant during longer or repeated performances, even if a single time trial performance remains unchanged.

- Plan 10–15 minutes of sport-specific warm-up before intense sessions; under 5 minutes is too short ^[1].
- Structure for explosive or strength sessions: 3–5 minutes of light cardio, followed by mobilization within the range of motion (dynamic instead of long static holds), then sport-specific activation (e.g., jumping series, technique drills, lighter sets). This way, you neutralize potential performance losses from static stretching ^[2].
- Place static stretching, if desired, at the end or combine it directly before training with sport-specific contractions to secure performance ^[2].
- In heat (from ~30°C), "cool" the warm-up: shorter intervals with shade, cool liquid beforehand; pre-cooling with ice slush or a cooling vest reduces thermal load without losing the warm-up effect ^[3].
- Tailor the warm-up to the sport: running drills for runners, shoulder and rotator cuff activation for throwing and pulling movements, hip-dominant patterns for knee-loading sports. Avoid unsuitable techniques ^[2].
- Cool down for 5–10 minutes: easy jogging/ergometer, followed by a calm breathing rhythm. In heat: active cooling with cool airflow or damp towels to lower core temperature more quickly ^[3].
- If time is short: prioritize sport-specific activations and technique drills over general stretching; 6–10 high-quality minutes outweigh 3 minutes of "token warm-up" ^[1].

The future of warm-ups is personalized and context-sensitive: wearables that measure temperature, muscle stiffness, and nervous system readiness will control the sequence in real-time. We will better understand when pre-cooling stabilizes performance, which activation sequences optimally neutralize stretching effects—and how smart routines can prevent injuries even more reliably.