Perceptions of Warm-Up Effectiveness Maps to Stress Physiology in Surfers

Abstract Serpell, BG and Cook, CJ. Perceptions of warm-up effectiveness maps to stress physiology in surfers. J Strength Cond Res 39(12): e1467–e1472, 2025—Warm-ups serve to enhance readiness in sport. Readiness has been defined as a state of physical, psychological, and behavioral preparation to perform. Testosterone and cortisol are often considered biomarkers of readiness in athletes. Furthermore, athletes who have more positive perceptions of warm-up tend to perform better. The purpose of this work was to explore whether changes in testosterone and cortisol profile map to perceptions of warm-up effectiveness in a group of surfers. Subjects surfed in an artificial wave-pool on 3 occasions—once for familiarization, once following an on-land warm-up, once when no warm-up was undertaken. Perceptions of warm-up effectiveness and surfing session quality were collected from subjects under both conditions, and hormones were measured before and after an active warm-up. Our results showed that the warm-up resulted in increased testosterone concentration and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio, and reduced cortisol concentration ( p ≤ 0.05). In addition, subjects believed they were more prepared to surf after a warm-up ( p ≤ 0.05), and a nonsignificant trend in poorer perception of readiness to perform presurf to postsurf was observed when a warm-up was not complete. In conclusion, we show changes in testosterone and cortisol mapped onto surveyed perceptions of readiness. Outcomes from this study have applications on the importance of warm-up for surfing. It also has broader implications for other sports by showing that a well-designed warm-up may enhance physical and mental readiness, and potentially performance, and it can enhance athlete's perceptions of using warm-ups.