In this thesis, I studied the effects of warm-up in the body and mind. I conducted a survey for young athletes aged 12–18 in the field of dance sport and also interviewed their coach. My aim was to find out what the young dancers think about warming up, how they usually warm up for practice and competitions and why their warm-up is often insufficient.

Warming up is important in all fields of sport and exercise but for some reason it is often seen as something extra instead of an essential part of the practice. A warm-up routine of 10–15 minutes increases the yearly practice amount significantly. Good warm-up prevents injuries, boosts recovery and can be used for improving many qualities, such as various motor skills, balance and flexibility.

This study showed that young dancers are very well aware of the short-term effects of warming up both in the body and mind, but they lack the understanding of its long-term benefits. They warm up better for competitions than for practice. When they do warm up, their routine is quite good and versatile, which means that they have the necessary skills and knowledge for it.

What should be done in the future is that the dancers should be made aware of the long-term effects of warming up, for example, how it makes learning more effective and how it can be used to improve their dancing technique and hence get them better results in the competitions. In addition, some changes should be made at the dance studio to motivate the young dancers to arrive early enough to have sufficient time for the warm-up and also to provide them with well-structured information on how to do it so that they feel confident enough. Moreover, creating peer pressure would motivate the young dancers for better warm-up. When warming up becomes a routine, it will not feel like something extra that the coaches constantly go on about.

These kinds of changes will take some time since many of the dancers in question have already been dancing for several years and building up a new routine will require time and effort from the coaches as well.