Background Warm-up strategies play a crucial role in enhancing athletic performance and preventing injuries, yet the optimal warm-up protocol for sprint kayaking remains unclear. Methods This study compared the effects of four different warm-up approaches—interval, increasing intensity, continuous, and self-selected—on performance in a 2-minute maximal kayak ergometer test among eleven elite male sprint kayakers. Each participant completed all warm-up types in a randomized order, followed by a 2-minute all-out time trial. Performance power output, heart rate, blood lactate levels, and subjective ratings of the warm-ups were measured. Results Results showed that the interval warm-up produced the highest average power output, significantly outperforming the increasing intensity warm-up. However, performance after the self-selected warm-up was not significantly different from the interval warm-up, and athletes rated the self-selected warm-up significantly better than the other warm-ups. Higher blood lactate concentrations measured immediately before the time trial were strongly associated with reduced performance regardless of warm-up type. The increasing intensity warm-up resulted in the highest pre-trial lactate levels and lowest performance. Conclusions These findings suggest that while structured interval warm-ups can enhance performance, self-selected warm-ups are appreciated by experienced sprint kayakers and can be implemented if blood lactate level is not excessively elevated. This study highlights the importance of balancing warm-up intensity to maximize performance without inducing premature fatigue. Trial registration Not applicable. This study did not involve a health care intervention and did not meet the criteria for clinical trial registration.
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