Physiological Reasons Why Warming Up Is Important

Most days I don't have a lot of time on my hands so I just kind of start my sprint training (or powering up inclines...all high intensity interval type trainings) right off the bat with very little (or no) warm up.

Today I had time. I actually played an hour of tennis earlier in the day. Rested and checked emails for about 1 1/2 hours, then walked for 1 mile, and right after that walk I felt "good", as in I could just tell my lungs and HR were well suited for some sprints. On bad days my HR jumps up to redline soooo quickly. So anyway after my walk I did a few sprints on my bike. I was right....it took a lot of work to get my HR up and my lungs felt great...never felt short of breath.

Is it likely that this is a direct effect of having done some activities earlier and walking beforehand to warm up? Or is it probably coincidental?

And while on that topic do any of you guys have days were you can do more (as far as HR and lungs go)? Last Thursday I was the opposite. The slightest bit of exercise made my HR soar. Yet 48 hrs later I feel like I'm 18. Why is that?

 

In the winter I do 30 minutes at 100%FTP most days when the weather is not good enough to go out. My heart rate on most of those rides is pretty much the same. The only excpetions are if I take 4 or 5 days off. Then the first day back my haert rate is too high at that power level. So I watch my heart rate the first day back. And my power level is 90-95%FTP.

I have good stimulus/response control.

I think the more training you do and the more consistant your training the better your body's response will be.

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I don't do warm ups. On my trainer I am up to power in 15 seconds. On the roads I ride 1/2 mile to get where I can ride hard.