The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of upper-body high-intensity exercise priming on subsequent leg exercise performance. Specifically, to compare maximal 4000 m cycling performance with upper-body pre-load (MPT_high) and common warm-up (MPT_low). In this case, 15 high-level cyclists (23.3 ± 3.6 years; 181 ± 7 cm; 76.2 ± 10.0 kg; V˙O_2max: 65.4 ± 6.7 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) participated in the study attending three laboratory sessions, completing an incremental test and both experimental protocols. In MPT_high, warm-up was added by a 25 s high-intensity all-out arm crank effort to the traditional 20-min aerobic warm-up. Both 4000 m maximal bouts started with a 12 s all-out start. Heart rate, blood lactate concentration [La) and spirometric data were measured and analyzed. Overall MPT_high time was slower by 5.3 ± 1.2 s (p < 0.05). [La] at the start was 5.5 ± 1.5 mmol·L⁻¹ higher for MPT_high (p < 0.001) reducing anaerobic energy contribution which was higher in MPT_low during the first and third 1000 m split (p < 0.05). Similarly, MPT_low maintained higher total average power during the entire performance (p < 0.05, d = 0.7). Although the MPT_high condition performed less effectively due to decreased anaerobic capacity, pre-load effect may have the potential to enhance performance at longer distances.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of arm-crank induced priming on subsequent 20 min Functional Threshold Power Test among 11 well-trained male cyclists (18.8 ± 0.9 years; 182 ± 5 cm; 73.0 ± 6.6 kg; V˙O_2max 67.9 ± 5.1 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹). Participants completed an incremental test and two maximal performance tests (MPTs) in a randomized order. Warm-up prior to MPT_low consisted of 20 min aerobic exercise and 25 s high-intensity all-out arm crank effort was added to warm-up in MPT_high. Constant intensities for the first 17 min of MPT were targeting to achieve a similar relative fatigue according to participants’ physiological capacity before the last 3 min all-out spurt. Final 3 min all-out spurt power was 4.94 ± 0.27 W·kg⁻¹ and 4.85 ± 0.39 W·kg⁻¹ in MPT_low and MPT_high, respectively (not statistically different: p = 0.116; d = 0.5). Blood lactate [La] levels just before the start were higher (p < 0.001; d = 2.6) in MPT_high (5.6 ± 0.5 mmol·L⁻¹) compared to MPT_low (1.1 ± 0.1 mmol·L⁻¹). According to V˙CO₂ and net [La] data, significantly higher anaerobic energy production was detected among MPT_low condition. In conclusion, priming significantly reduced anaerobic energy contribution but did neither improve nor decrease group mean performance although effects were variable. We suggest priming to have beneficial effects based on previous studies; however, the effects are individual and additional studies are needed to distinguish such detailed effects in single athletes.