The harder warm-up didn't make them faster

The harder warm-up pushed perceived effort 32% higher, heart rate 9.9% higher and peak oxygen uptake during the warm-up 31.2% higher. It also increased muscle soreness.

Then the riders raced three kilometres, and none of that extra load produced a detectable performance gain.

That is the revealing part. The warm-up clearly felt and looked more demanding. It just did not make the subsequent effort faster in this experiment.

You are ten minutes from the start, your legs still feel flat, and the warm-up suddenly turns into a test. One more hard effort. A bigger gear. Something to make the heart rate rise and prove that you're ready.

That feeling can be reassuring. It can also be misleading.

A new study compared a classic cycling warm-up with one that included high-torque intervals. Fourteen competitive male cyclists completed both conditions in a randomised crossover design. They were young and very well trained: 23 years old on average, with a VO2peak of 65 mL/kg/min.

After each warm-up they had a two-minute transition, then rode a simulated 3-kilometre prologue on an ergometer with variable terrain and rolling resistance.

The high-torque warm-up also raised oxygen uptake by 10.7%. But when the time trial started, completion time, mean power, peak power, cadence and time above critical power were not significantly different between the two warm-ups.

That is the useful distinction. A warm-up can produce a bigger physiological response without producing a detectable improvement in the result.

It is easy to judge readiness by how much the warm-up wakes you up. Heart rate rises. Breathing gets deeper. The legs feel loaded. But those measures also rise because you have simply done more work. They tell you the warm-up was harder, not that the next effort will be faster.

The study does not prove that the two approaches are identical. Fourteen riders is a small sample, and the abstract reports no statistically significant performance differences rather than an equivalence test or the uncertainty around those differences. The defensible conclusion is narrower: this experiment found no evidence that the extra high-torque load improved a short time trial.

It is narrow in other ways too. These were young, competitive men doing a three-kilometre laboratory effort after only two minutes of transition. We cannot assume the result will be the same for women, older riders, longer events, a different recovery window or a real start line. And without access to the full paper, I would not pretend we know enough about the exact protocols to copy either one turn for turn.

This is not an argument against high-torque training. It tested high torque as part of the warm-up, not whether low-cadence work belongs in a training programme. It is an argument against making a warm-up harder just so it feels more convincing.

What you do with this depends on which rider you are.

• If you're time-capped: don't turn the preparation into another session. Use a simple warm-up you can repeat, then save the real work for the effort that counts. More strain before the start is not automatically better value.
• If you're over 50: this study cannot tell you how an older rider responds. The extra soreness is enough reason to test any high-torque warm-up in training first, then judge it by the quality of the effort that follows rather than by how activated you feel.
• If you're chasing a result, or it's a new event for you: rehearse the exact warm-up and transition you will have on the day. Compare the opening power, pacing and feel of the event effort. Do not choose the routine that wins the warm-up; choose the one that leaves you ready to race.

A warm-up has done its job when the effort is ready, not when the warm-up feels impressive.

Source. Cesanelli L, Pernigoni M, Zambolin F, Lagoute T, Coletta F, De Maria G, Ivanovas O, Venckunas T. High-Torque Interval Warm-Up Increases Internal Load Compared With a Classic Protocol but Does Not Affect Subsequent Time-Trial Performance. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. Published online August 3, 2026:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2026-0069

On my mindThis is just another moment in time

I was scrolling on X this week when I read this from Orange Book:

“Growth only requires the mental strength to keep going even as you feel dumb, untalented, and powerless.”

It really spoke to me. I've been through a period recently where I've felt dumb. Not all the time, but enough for that line to stop me.

Then I thought back. I've felt this before—three months ago, six months ago, whenever. That is the point. I got through those moments. I kept going.

This is just another moment in time. It feels bigger because I'm standing inside it, but it isn't a verdict on whether I can do the work.

Maybe you recognise that from your cycling. Don't let how it feels today become the whole story.

— Damian

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