The acute effect of a foam rolling and a dynamic stretch warm-up routine on jumping performance

Abstract: Background: Self-myofascial release is widely used by athletes but the scientific evidence of its supposedly positive effects is limited. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foam rolling as a warm-up routine in comparison with a dynamic stretching routine and how it may affect the jumping performance among subjects familiar with weight training. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of foam rolling vs. a standardized dynamic stretch warm-up routine on jumping performance. Method: Twelve subjects, mean (SD) age 25.1 (± 3.0) years, participated in a randomized, controlled, crossover study. All subjects completed a standardized foam rolling (FR) and a dynamic stretch (DS) warm-up routine on separate days of testing. Squat jump (SJ), counter movement jump (CMJ) and loaded counter movement jump (L-CMJ) all performed bilaterally and unilaterally were conducted to investigate the acute effect of the two warm-up routines. A dependent T-test was used to investigate differences between the warm-up routines. Results: A statistical significant difference in favor of the DS was found for SJ performed bilaterally among males (p = 0.009). The mean (SD) jumping height for SJ FR was 35.6 (± 4.7) cm and for SJ DS 37.9 (± 5.2) cm. The male group also improved more in L-CMJ performed on the right leg with an external load of 54kg after DS compared to FR. No other statistical significant differences were found between the two interventions. A near statistical significant difference was found for SJ performed bilaterally for the total sample (p = 0.057) also in favor of the DS. The mean (SD) jumping height for SJ FR was 29.3 (± 8.7) cm and for SJ DS 30.5 (± 9.9) cm. Conclusion: Findings from this study supports a dynamic stretch warm-up routine prior to performing high intensity bilateral plyometrics instead of a foam rolling warm-up routine. However the data was inconsistent and more research with larger sample sizes is needed to further investigate the possible effects of foam rolling as a warm-up routine on jumping performance performed both bilaterally and unilaterally.