Clean Run - August 2018 - 45

The Importance of
Warm-Up and
Cool-Down Exercises
By Malcolm Ware, BVSc, CCRT, VOSMA Certified; Matt Brunke, DVM, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine
and Rehabilitation, CCRP, CVPP, CVA; Rebecca Ainsworth BVSc CCRT VOSMA. Photos courtesy of Dr. Malcolm Ware.

We want our agility dogs to not only
exert their best performance, but also
maintain good health, conformation,
and complete activities without injury.
Without warm-up and cool-down routines, you can unintentionally put your
dog at risk for a poor run, or worse, an
injury. Canine agility is an explosive
sport and requires high muscle activity
in short durations. It is also a demanding athletic activity and requires dogs to
perform tight turns, make diﬃcult contact and weave entries, and abruptly accelerate and decelerate.
Unfortunately, approximately 33 percent of agility dogs will have an injury
that will either make them stop competing or training for a period. This is often
an injury of the shoulder assembly and
back, indicating the significance for
preparation, or "warming up," of these
areas to help achieve eﬃcient and coordinated movement.
Research and publications in canine
athletics are currently limited, but there
is a lot that we can derive from human
sports medicine research to help us
build a better and longer working career
for sport dogs. A series of studies performed in human athletes by the Oslo
Sports Trauma Centre showed up to a
50 percent decrease in sports-related injuries when specific warm-up exercises
were performed.
August 18 | Clean Run

The physiology of warming up is that exercise increases overall body temperature,
which then increases muscle temperature. An increase in muscle temperature will increase muscle metabolism, leading to a higher muscle fiber conduction velocity and
improved muscle contractility. This increase in muscle warmth can have a significant
effect on performance. A 1 percent increase in muscle temperature can lead to a 2
to 5 percent increase in exercise performance when related to power output, which
correlates to speed.
In human research, it has been shown that there is greater muscle contractile performance following a warm-up period with active prior muscle contracture. Human
studies have also shown that with muscle warming, contraction rates of Type 2 muscle fibers are far higher than those of Type 1 muscle fibers. This is particularly relevant
in dogs as the main locomotor muscles are Type 2 muscle fibers, hence more explosive power and movement.
There are two types of warm-ups: passive and active.
* Passive warm-ups include range of motion, heat packs, and manual stretching by
the handler. This can allow for an increase in body temperature and, therefore, an
increase in muscle temperature without depleting stores of the energy needed for
muscle contracture as happens with active warm-ups. However, it is generally accepted that passive warm-ups alone are not a good method to prepare for a sporting event. Studies have shown that overstretching before an event can actually
decrease muscle function. It has also been shown that passive warm-ups do not
decrease the rate of injury. However, many of the passive warm-up heat maintenance techniques can be applied to the transition phase between warming up and
competing, so that muscle temperature elevation is maintained.
* Active warm-ups involve the dog performing the stretch or activity themselves.
This induces metabolic change and aims to initiate aerobic energy production for
the muscles. Aerobic energy is a slow but eﬃcient source of energy production
that can take 120 seconds to kick start. Therefore if a canine athlete is not warmed
up properly, they may not even be using their main muscle energy source before
the event is over. So active warm-ups are priming the muscle for function and allowing the muscle to lengthen to full functional range of motion before competition. The effectiveness of the active warm-up is related to its intensity and the
duration of the physical tasks. Human studies have shown that as well as moderate
exercise to elevate temperature, the warm-up must include one event pace exercise for 25 percent duration of the whole event.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - August 2018