Movement Prep or Traditional Warm Up?

Movement Prep or Traditional Warm Up which camp are you in?  If you are a coach or work with athletes at all you need to read this.

When I was growing up no matter what sport I was playing at the time the warm up was always the same.  As a team, we would get in a big circle and do some stretches, then do some calisthenics and finally go for a 5 -10 minute jog.  When that was finished we would do our respective sport specific warm ups.  Throwing  and some swinging for softball and lay-ups and some jump shots for basketball.  In my opinion, this is what I call  a more traditional old school warm-up.

I would rather not say how long ago I did those warm ups, but suffice it to say, it has been a while.  Both science and research have led to a much better more efficient warm up system.   It pains me to see so many coaches still utilizing the traditional warm up model.

Static stretching before exercise/sports especially explosive power movements has been shown to lead to a higher risk of injury and diminished levels of power.  I do realize that this is not a proven fact as of yet, as a lot of the studies remain inconclusive, however there is enough real world evidence to warrant a change.

Jogging the second biggest exercise used in the traditional warm up accomplishes one maybe two things.  First it warms the body up.  If training in a cold environment I would agree that a light jog may be necessary to get the body temperature up but an extended 10 minute run is not helpful.  Secondly, if you still have the old school mentality, a light jog might make the body feel better and therefore allow you to go harder in your movement prep.

Implementing the movement prep below would be much more productive and a more efficient use of your time.

• Foam roll
• Light specific static stretch for problem areas or muscles used in the workout
• Activate
• Mobilize
• Dynamic flexibility
• Stability work

Foam rolling has been covered before in may of my blog posts.  Spend about a minute on each of the major areas of the body.  You may also need to use a tennis or lacrosse ball to get the hard to reach areas.

Low level static stretching this is very specific to the individual and the sport he/she is playing.  A baseball or tennis player will want to loosen up the muscles around the shoulder joint.  You will employ a very mild stretch of only about 12-15 seconds.  You are loosening the muscle just enough to allow the dynamic warm up to be more effective.

Activate activation exercises such as the cook hip lift and side leg raises help get the correct muscle patterns fired up and moving.  For example, someone with hamstring dominance will have trouble getting the glutes to fire in the proper order.  Using a few simple activation exercises will have get those trouble spots awake and firing.  Low reps, low intensity.  Just enough to feel the correct muscles fire.

Mobilization you will use exercises such as ankle mobs, reverse cross lunge, lunge matrix or hip swings.  Mobilization exercises help open up the joint.

Dynamic flexibility a tight muscle will not fire on all cylinders so we still need for it to be stretched out and warmed up.  Dynamic flexibility has taken the place of static stretching, it gets the body moving in the exact way it will be moving in the game situation, in terms of the stretch shortening cycle.  High knee walks, butt kickers, over/unders, bear crawls, inchworms and monster walks.  This part of the warm up needs to be geared towards the sport or workout as well.

Stability/balance this last part of the workout involves some low level balance and core work.  Single leg toe touches or low level jumps and stick the landings.  Things that help get the nervous system turned on.  Low reps and low demand.  The idea is to turn on not fatigue.

There you have it the perfect warm up for any workout.  There are thousands of exercise options so you could do something different everyday and still never repeat or you can keep it simple and stick with the same exercises.  The important thing to remember is to gear it to your body needs and the needs of your sport or workout.

The great thing about this warm up is its versatility, if you know you have some tissue density, flexibility or mobilization inadequacies you can use the exact movement prep everyday and it will help to lessen your movement quality issues.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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