Effects of a Suspension Training Warm-Up on Maximal Cardiopulmonary Exercise Performance in Highly Active Adults: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Background and Objectives: Warm-up before cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) typically includes low-intensity aerobic activity. Whether a dynamic suspension-training warm-up represents a comparable alternative remains unknown. This study compared the cardiopulmonary responses between a treadmill walking warm-up (WW) and a suspension training warm-up (SW) before CPET in highly active young adults. Methods: Fifteen participants (6 females, 9 males; 21.2 ± 1.90 years) randomly completed both 6 min warm-up conditions in a randomized, counterbalanced order before an incremental treadmill CPET using a portable metabolic analyzer. Equivalence of peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) was assessed using two one-sided tests with a prespecified bound of ±1 MET (±3.5 mL/kg/min). Results: VO2 peak between SW (58.8 mL/kg/min; SD = 9.33) and WW (58.9 mL/kg/min; SD = 10.34) did not differ significantly (p = 0.957, d = −0.01). The 90% CI for the differences (−2.48 to 2.33 mL/kg/min) fell within the equivalence bounds (p = 0.010 and p = 0.013). Linear mixed model analyses revealed no significant effect of warm-up on VO2 peak (F1,13 = 0.003, p = 0.957) with no sequence-order effects (p > 0.05). Other peak CPET cardiopulmonary, perceptual, and performance outcomes did not differ between warm-ups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: A SW elicited equivalent VO2 peak and no significant differences in other CPET outcomes compared to a traditional WW in highly active young adults. These findings provide novel evidence that SW may represent a practical alternative warm-up before CPET in highly active young adults.