Warm-Up Decrement

Warm-up decrement is a temporary dip in performance of an already well-learned motor skill observed right at the beginning of a new practice or performance session following a period of rest, even though the skill itself has clearly not been forgotten, since performance typically recovers quickly to its prior level within just the first few trials or minutes of renewed activity. Motor-learning researchers distinguish warm-up decrement carefully from genuine forgetting or skill loss precisely because of this rapid recovery: a performer showing warm-up decrement needs only a brief period of re-engagement with the task to return to their earlier level, rather than requiring anything resembling the extended re-practice that would be needed to relearn a skill that had actually been forgotten. Researchers have generally attributed the initial deficit to the dissipation, over the rest period, of task-specific readiness factors built up during the previous practice session, including a person's attentional set, physical or postural adjustment to the task, and short-term familiarity with its specific timing and demands, all of which have to be quickly reestablished once practice resumes. Warm-up decrement is frequently discussed in sport psychology and motor-learning textbooks alongside the reminiscence effect documented elsewhere in this section, since both concern how a rest period between practice sessions affects subsequent performance, though the two effects run in opposite directions and are generally attributed to different underlying mechanisms.