## 3 Results and Discussion
### Influential Variables in the Wingate Anaerobic Test
#### 3.1.3 Warming Up  
Although several modifications and recommendations were made in this respect, the United States Olympic Committee, in 2004, made the following recommendations regarding the WAT warm-up:  
* For road cyclists: 1. Women: 5 min with a 2% resistance of total body weight, perform three sprints of 5 s each at minutes 2-3 and 4 with a 3.7% resistance of total weight. After the warm-up and before starting the test: a 3 min break; 2. Men: 5 min with a 2% resistance of total body weight, perform three sprints of 5 s each at minutes 2-3 and 4 with a 4.1% resistance of total weight. After the warm-up and before starting the test: a 3 min break. * For track athletes/sprinters: 1. Women: 5 min with a 2% resistance of total body weight, perform three sprints of 5 s each at minutes 2-3 and 4 with a 5% resistance of total weight. After the warm-up and before starting the test: a 3 min break; 2. Men: 5 min with a 2% resistance of total body weight, perform three sprints of 5 s each at minutes 2-3 and 4 with a 6.6% resistance of total weight. After the warm-up and before starting the test: a 3 min break. Although taking into account the population on which the test was conducted, we should probably be cautious about the conclusions. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [3] conducted a study on children between 7 and 9 years old, whereby without knowledge of the concept of warm-up, they performed the test with and without a previous intermittent 15 min (30 s of activity and 30 s without activity) warm-up on a treadmill. Warm-up improved average power by 7% but did not affect PP. This improvement was consistent and highly significant from a statistical point of view. Furthermore, unpublished data from this study on these subjects have suggested that intermittent heat input (from this study onwards) was more effective than continuous 15 min heat input. [PERSON] et al. [45] found no difference in the power levels generated in physical education students performing a 15 min warm-up at 60 rpm at 50% VO\({}_{2}\)max or otherwise. In other research with a similar population sample (physical education students), the 15 min duration warm-up improves the MP and PP when associated with a recovery interval prior to exercise of 5 min. However, the 5 min warm-up duration allows better improvement of power output when the exercise is applied immediately after the warm-up. Consequently, the duration of warm-up and the following recovery interval when practising or assessing activities requiring powerful lower limb muscle contractions must be taken into account [46]. In the case of track cyclists, [PERSON] et al. [47] compared the performance obtained in a WAT after a traditional warm-up (20 min at progressive intensity and four sprints with breaks between them) with a shorter warm-up of 15 min of progressive intensity and a single sprint, concluding that the traditional track cyclist's warm-up results in significant fatigue, which corresponds with impaired PP output. A shorter and lower-intensity warm-up permits a better performance. With a sample of similar characteristics, [PERSON] et al. [48] compared a submaximal warm-up with a warm-up that included 10 s periods of overload, finding significant improvements with the warm-up performed at higher intensities. Lastly, it is important to take into account whether or not to perform stretching--static in this case--in the heating protocol since passive stretching after heating on a cyclo-ergometer significantly reduces the power generated later in the WAT [49]. Warm-up protocols may have significantly different impacts on PP during the WAT. Although more research is needed, developing a standardised warm-up protocol for the WAT may improve consistency between studies [50]. It seems that for untrained subjects in this type of test, a submaximal warm-up (5-10 min) could be enough to obtain their best performance, while in trained subjects, it would be recommended to perform some high-intensity exercise after the submaximal warm-up.