Tag Archive: warm ups

1. How to make your warm up sport specific

   31st July 2019 7:30 am 6 Comments

   Is your warm-up sport-specific?

   As many people in the world know and understand you can learn so much by watching and observing other people.

   How does society work? How people act in different situations, being a couple of examples.

   This skill, of observing and reflecting is so important to a coach’s personal and professional development. I have had the chance to work with some excellent coaches over the last 5 years and from each, I have gained new skills and qualities.

   While waiting for Matt, (as he was late to our meeting) I have the opportunity to watch two teams warming up for a game of Netball. As I was watching I noticed that both teams were doing the same drills and activities. And I got thinking…… is this normal? Does every team warm-up the same? If so does that mean that each person that plays that sport is the same? Is that warm-up effective for them?

   Planning your Warm-Up

   This is a message that I deliver on our Athletic Development Coaching Course We spend time planning and reflecting upon the coaches’ individual and team warm-ups and how they help prepare their teams before they compete and it has proven to be very useful for their athletes.

   Here are some tips:

   Have a plan. Write it down if necessary. Make it simple.

   • Make it personal to you- don’t copy what anyone else is doing.
   • Move generally before you get ready for your specific event.
   • Use large muscle groups first, get warm and sweaty.
   • Introduce technical drills for form.
   • Build up speed and intensity.
   • Integrate speed work with mobility, so that you don’t get fatigued.
   • Practice in training and experiment with what works for you.
   • Keep it short- that way if you are called up sooner than expected you won’t panic.
   • Routine is key; it will be a comfort before you compete.

   What I saw and what I was thinking….

   While watching the Netball warm-up I saw:

   • A lot of running in a straight line (A to B)
   • A low to medium intensity of running, and not explosive movements, high-intensity actions
   • Limited decision making and interplay between players.

   When I look at Netball, I see a high-intensity game (for those actually involved with the ball), that is multi-directional and at varying intensities of movement thought-out the game. When in netball does a player run completely straight with no change of pace or direction. Did the warm-up resemble the actual activities and movements required in the match? Probably not.

   A warm-up is so important to mentally and physically prepare athletes for competition. Yes, we can physically prepare athletes with the implementation of correct movements and actions, but who can we mentally prepare them? As each athlete has a different makeup and needs.

   What we can do is to stimulate each athlete’s sensor systems, so that they make fast, and correct decisions in the heat of battle. This means including decision making in a warm-up, especially for team evasion sports. The video below shows athletes choosing a movement across the base of the square and then accelerating across the diagonals.

   My favourite is Keep-Ball, a simple game that requires the players to make a number of passes between each other, without letting the opposition gain the ball. This activity is multi-directional, with a variety of intensity and movement. It includes communication and decision making.

    Ask yourself, are you actually preparing your athletes for competition?

   Read more here

   • Do warm ups affect performance?
   • How to implement a dynamic warm up

2. How to warm up for fencing

   23rd March 2015 9:46 am 2 Comments

   “We want faster, cleverer and more independent fencers”

   an aspirational goal discussed by SW Fencing hub coaches last week. Part of my role is to teach them how to do specific fencing warm up.

   I was fortunate enough to be working on 2 great fencing camps last week: Norman Golding’s summer course at Millfield School and James and Ian Williams’ sabre camp in Grantham.

   The above quote came from many conversations I had with some great individuals over the course of the 7 days on camp.

   How to start your fencing warm-up

   I had a simple aim for the 4 days I was on Norman’s summer camp: get the fencers to walk away with 2 warm-ups that they could utilise at their home salles. 

   I have failed miserably as a coach to get my athletes to do a fencing warm up consistently and well in my absence. As soon as they get to a competition, all planned routines seem to disappear.

   I have been researching extensively latest thoughts on injury prevention in warm-ups, as well as discussing with coaches about how they work in practice. I have also added what works with the fencers I coach.

   The principle is to warm up through stages:

   General: (just got out of the car or classroom) Get the hips and T-spine moving, followed by a sideways, forwards and back gross motor pattern. Then do some work in prone to warm the shoulders up as well as coordinate arms and legs.

   Related: Introduce single leg balance and control, followed by explosive movement from there and a braking action. Jumping work: single jumps with controlled landings and then reactive jumps. Followed by acceleration starts, and then a running action using spatial awareness.

   Specific: By this stage, they are moving faster, have sweated and have been up, down, forward, back and sideways. They can then pick up their swords and start to rehearse footwork and tactics.

   Each fencer went away with a written handout on these warm-ups. It took a good 90 minutes of coaching to get each one right (or at least in the right direction).

   Here they are on video.

   Thanks to all the fencers and coaches for helping me on the course: great feedback and interaction.  

   Further reading:

   • Introducing fitness to fencers 
   • The Ultimate guide to warm ups.
   • Individual strength and conditioning coaching
   • Guide to pre-season training

3. Warm Up Specificity – spinning

   26th February 2015 11:53 am Leave a Comment

   Spinning is great, for cyclists!

   If you watch the first 20 seconds of this clip you will see Tomlinson warming up for his role as a running back on a stationary spinning bike.

   He has a groin injury, if it were me I would try to replicate the moves I was going to do in the game at a slow tempo and gradually build up speed.

   Spinning is a good form of exercise, and for big guys may be a valid alternative to running to take the load off the joints, but it will make your back stiff and your hamstrings and calves tight.

   It also involves no lateral movement at all. This to me does not make it suitable for a warm up for an explosive change of direction sport like Gridiron. Instead, I would use the principles found in our Ultimate Guide to Warm Ups.

   I taught spinning twice a week for 6 years, so have some idea of what it involves, and for interval type training for the central cv system it is very effective. But I always made sure I was doing much more sport specific work before or after that. The other advantage is that it is indoors, the disdvantage is that those type of bikes cost a lot and you usually have to be a member of a gym to take part.

4. Do Warm Ups Affect Performance?

   11th December 2014 9:57 am 3 Comments

   The goal of the warm up is to prepare the body mentally and physically for exercise or competition.

   We would therefore look for the following positive effects:

   • Faster muscle contraction and relaxation.
   • Improved rate of force development and reaction time.
   • Improvements in muscle strength and power.
   • Skill preparation and mental focus.

   Methods that are used include;

   • Low intensity aerobic exercise followed by static or dynamic stretching.
   • Sport specific drills.
   • Lighter weights set before heavy weights session.

   Many studies have been carried out to ascertain the best way to warm up an athlete for a session. Due to the varying testing methods and protocols, a large majority of these have little relevance for a sports environment.

   What does research tell us about warm ups?

   A Meta-Analysis for the Journal of Strength Conditioning Research looked initially at over 2000 studies but found only 32 met the criteria of being relevant to sporting activity on humans, and included 2 or more components of a warm up, in English (24 (1) 140 -148, 2010)

   Of these 32 studies, 79% of these found that the warm up method improved the subjects performance in a given activity. When evaluating the studies that showed a decline in performance, it was found that the warm up method was not suited to the activity.

   The suitability of a warm up is paramount to improved performance as shown in the above analysis. One rule that can be used is SAID (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands). This means we tailor the warm up to the athletes level of fitness and to the main session plan.

   • Why warm up with a low intensity aerobic exercise for a weights session, wouldn’t a warm up involving similar movement patterns be more beneficial?
   • Why warm up with linear movements for a hockey game, wouldn’t multi lateral movements be more suitable?

   Using SAID we could question different stretching methods; would static stretching be suitable for a warm up? Some would argue yes as it elongates a muscle to natural length and therefore it should contract better.

   Others however would disagree saying the muscle is too relaxed after the stretch. These arguments are based on anecdotal and research evidence due to the different studies and methods.

   Summary of the best way to warm up

   Without further studies on times between stretching and the activity amongst things, its difficult to come to a conclusion on whether static stretching is detrimental, however most studies have shown that a more dynamic warm up is suitable to the activity and improves performance.

   The RAMP method (Raise, Activate, Mobilise and Potentiate) along with the SAID rule provides a structure from which a warm up can be designed to provide an effective pre exercise routine.

   On our Foundation in Athletic Development Coaching Course   we help sports coaches and p.e. teachers design better warm ups.

   • How to design your own warm up 
   • How to implement a dynamic warm up

   Duncan Buckmaster  

5. A different perspective on warm ups – Diversity and Variety.

   28th November 2014 1:36 pm 1 Comment

   “The purpose of the warm up is to prepare the body and mind for the activity to follow”.

   That is my general explanation on what we are trying to achieve in a warm up. Warm up ideas tend to follow predictable patterns with no discernible purpose. Here are some thoughts for you to try.

   Currently you might conduct our warm ups on physiological terms-

   • raising heart rates
   • increasing body temperature
   • increasing range of movement-

   or on technical terms, practicing

   • catching
   • jumping 
   • throwing

   for a skills session to follow.

   I use the warm up as an opportunity for reinforcing fundamental movement skills (FMS).  I then introduce more Motor Skills activities that then allow my athletes to improve their skill acquisition.

   This video is a simple example before athletics:

   Physical development comes before skill development

   That was the basis of a workshop I did with some sports coaches at Millfield School last week.

   It is apparent that having a greater store of motor skills will enable the athlete not only to adapt to learning new specific skills more rapidly, but also to adjust to changing situations within open ended games more rapidly.

   As Vern Gambetta says “We want adaptable athletes, not adapted athletes”.

   Just practising “sport specific” drills or generic “dynamic stretching” (whatever that is) will not help develop more rounded athletes at a senior level.

   If we can reinforce the FMS of rolling, crawling, walking, skipping, balancing and throwing in the warm up, then the athlete will be able to draw on this instinctively.

   That is why I introduce gymnastics into the warm up.

   Introduce learning into the warm up

   Our current society and way of living eliminates the need for all of these activities, so despite being hard wired by evolution to perform these actions, the bodies are not rehearsing them. Some warm ups performed slowly, without variety and with little challenge, could actually inhibit learning further.

   The second part of the warm up working on Balance, rhythm, movement choice, kinesthetic choice, spatial awareness and reaction to signals is an opportunity to stretch the athlete further. Building up a wider repertoire of these activities, not only keeps the body learning, it keeps the athlete fresh mentally.

   All sporting actions draw on movement patterns and motor skills to a greater or lesser extent. By introducing more variety and diversity into your warm up, you will not only be waking up your bestial instincts and reflexes, but also creating a platform for learning more specific skills.

   In order to learn more, you have to practise learning.

   Futher reading:

   • How to make your warm up more dynamic 
   • Examples of gymnastics movements for your warm up

6. The ultimate guide to warm ups

   22nd February 2014 9:20 am 49 Comments

   Why do you Warm Up?

   To prepare your body and mind for the activity to follow.

   

   Active warm up

   If you have a “routine” that you follow day in day out, it becomes just that…routine.  Your mind switches off, your body has adapted too well, and any benefits are lost.

   If the coach leaves the warm ups to the players, then it had better be good players with the right leadership qualities who can get it done right. Otherwise you then have players who are not switched on when they need to be and wonder why they get off to a bad start: in practice, or in competition.

   This week’s module of the Sports Training System is looking at different types of warm ups and how to incorporate them into both pre training and pre competition preparation.

   What exercises should I include in Warm Ups?

   The Shooing the Chickens  exercise is an example of what has become the “norm” without people questioning what it is doing. (Thanks to Laurence Kitchen for the term).  

   Just about every team sport seems to do this in rotation with some “opening the gates” or “sumo squats” which are performed half heartedly whilst catching up on the week’s gossip.

   Heel flicks and high knees are also included in every warm up by default: depsite the fact they encourage bad running mechanics. If you do include these, you are teaching kids to run badly!.

   One of the sequences we use is the animal movements. Cricket Coach Mark Garaway  tried these out in St Vincent last week with Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughn.  Apparently even these 2 experienced players learned something new and enjoyed it.

   As a coach or player you wouldn’t do the same skills or running session every day, so why do the same warm up? Have a heart for the players and break the routine up. Of course, don’t change it on match day.

   How to implement change

   I have given the Millfield Hockey and Netball girls an arsenal of exercises that they can do, then broken that down into 3 different types of court\ field warm ups. To help get this to actually happen:

   • I have explained why we are doing it to the coaches.
   • Videoed the exercises
   • Given written handouts
   • Rehearsed the exercises over several weeks, so they can execute them properly, effectively and confidently
   • Let the players mix and match to come up with what they think is right.
   • Had dress rehearsals and adjusted from the feedback.

   This didn’t happen overnight, it has taken time, but it is an important part of the overall Athletic Development and player development, that the athlete knows what they are doing, why and can get on with it themselves.

   We have banned shooing the chickens too!

   Read more here on

   • Do warm ups affect performance?
   • How to make your warm up sport specifc
   • Weight training warm up video
   • Have you thought of using gymnastics as part of your warm up?

   by James Marshall

7. Do you want to Run Faster?

   24th October 2013 8:45 am Leave a Comment

   Run Faster book now available on Amazon

   My latest book Run Faster is now available here.

   It contains a 6 week training programme based around technical drills and resistance training.

   It contains all the ideas and thoughts that I have learnt from working with both athletes and top coaches from around the world. 

   Whilst it is a short book, it has taken a long time to write, because I wanted to ensure that it was as up to date as possible.

   I have been refining the drills and sequences over the summer, and this is the culmination of that work.

   The book contains many video clips highlighting each drill and practice.

   This includes the specific resistance training exercises that are needed to enhance your running action. This also forms your hamstring injury prevention programme.

   Programme overview

   You can see the Run Faster programme overview below.

   

   

   If you are a team sports player, a recreational runner, or a track athlete then this book will help you refine and develop your running technique and fitness.

    Most people associate running fitness with getting tired first, technique second. This book shows the importance of developing your technique and strength concurrently. You then practice running well and at speed. Your fitness develops by repeating quality work.

   My underlying principle is: Run Well, Run Fast, Rest and Repeat.

   Buy the book here and start to Run Faster

8. How can I sprint quicker?

   30th April 2012 1:57 pm 11 Comments

   Speed kills…

   Almost every athlete needs to sprint quickly in their sport, those who do it quicker, beat their opponents.  Putting aside the need for braking and change of direction, pure sprint speed is a useful asset.

   Before working on these aspects, we always make sure that the foundation movement patterns and underlying structural integrity are in place. Otherwise, you simply can’t progress as quickly.

   The two key parts to running faster

   Acceleration:

   the start phase which requires the ability to apply great force and the ability to hold Straight Line Extension (SLX). This can be improved through strength training and correct technique (more detail here)

   Running Technique:

   Once you are upright, then running technique is very important. Athletes broadly fall into either those with good co-ordination (fluidity?) but need strengthening, or those who are strong, but lack co-ordination.

   Sprinting technique can be improved. As part of the Sports Training System we offer more detail, with video clips. 

   The top 7 technical running points

   1. Brief surface contact: Run in the air, not on the ground. When landing, think of a short sharp tick.
   2. Small range for leg movement: A smaller range will conserve energy. A more efficient action is when the rear leg doesn’t move too far backward and the front leg isn’t lifted too high.
   3. Holding the trunk upright: Keep the hips directly under the shoulders with the back held stretched. This helps the abdominal muscles work and stops over rotation of the shoulders.
   4. Keeping the foot in as neutral a position as possible: A 90 degree angle at the ankle joint  is optimal. Get this as soon after push off as possible and maintain until you land at the front.
   5. Optimal arm action: A greater backward swing than forward swing is optimal. The elbow should drive back to the rear and upwards in time with the scissor leg action.
   6. Optimal vertical displacement: It sounds strange, but a higher vertical displacement (without  long ground contact time) leads to longer flight time and faster running.
   7. Rapid linear pendular motion of the swing leg: After push off, the leg should be brought rapidly forward as linearly as possible. This means hip and knee bend together. Rather than the heel kicking up towards your bum.

   Our goal is to make everyone faster: the underlying principles are universal, but we apply them to each individual and sport differently. Speed training for running also needs strengthening exercises. The training for running speed is itself strenuous, especially for non athletes.

   Do you want to run faster too? Then click here.

   (Technical aspects taken from Frans Bosch)

9. Should I start running?

   25th April 2012 10:27 am 3 Comments

   Over the years I have participated in various sports, gym classes and individual pursuits but running has never been given a chance. Why is that?

   In April every year, London hosts its marathon and every year I nearly start a running regime…but I don’t. I am fully aware that there are endless health benefits from regular running such as:

   • cardiovascular training
   • weight loss and maintenance
   • prevention of osteoporosis
   • improved sleep
   • reduced stress and anxiety

   the list can go on and on. It is free once you have initially paid out for a decent pair of trainers. It can be done from home or your place of work at a time that suits you so it can fit into your busy lifestyle. So why don’t I?

   My previous and brief experiences in the past have been painful, exhausting and tedious. My first recollection of formal running was during the winter months of senior school. I loved all school sports and PE lessons apart from Cross Country running.

   I just remember getting so cold and muddy. To be honest it felt like a punishment rather than an activity to encourage me to continue with regular exercise after I had left school. Fortunately, this discipline was short lived every year and it didn’t deter me from participating in all other school sports through-out my teenage years.

   In reflection, I did seem to be more attracted to team sports which have a social component and encouraged interaction and group work.

   In subsequent years my sporadic running attempts have never progressed past the first outing. I found it so tough both physically and mentally that I didn’t wish to repeat the experience even though I know it would eventually get easier.

   As I ponder whether to give running another chance, I have complete admiration for all those London Marathon participants who have remained motivated and committed in order to attempt those 26 miles. From talking to friends and colleagues that do run, I am beginning to understand that the majority hate running but keep doing it because the benefits are worth it.

   I am currently well and have no injuries. I have a pair of unused running shoes in the cupboard and time at the weekends and during the light evenings. I need to forget my past experiences and find some determination to get running now for the benefit of my health.

   Let’s start this love/hate relationship.

   Always seek medical advice before commencing a running regime if you suffer from an illness or have a musculoskeletal disorder or injury.

    Sarah Marshall 

   • How to get faster: working with young athletes
   • Lessons from the track: tips on how to improve quality of your running.

   2 years later and Sarah is now an integral part of the  Excelsior ADC club in Willand. 

10. Warm Ups for strength training- Istvan Javorek

    12th March 2010 4:36 pm 2 Comments

    Javorek Warm Ups

    On a daily basis I hear from students that they heard that some exercises are dangerous. So my first basic weight training class I start with this short introduction: There aren’t dangerous exercises, just dangerous techniques.

    I devote a great deal of time to warming-up exercises.  I consider a good warm-up to be the first step in preventing injuries, as well as providing very good mental and physical preparation.

    Any kind of engine needs a certain amount of time for warm up. An insufficiently warmed up engine will function improperly, and sooner or later will break.

    • This rule applies very well to sport and human body.
    • The warm-up’s influences are mechanical, physiological and psychological:
    • Mechanical, because movement generates heat, raising the temperature of tissues and blood;
    • Physiological, because the warmer muscles are more flexible, faster to react, and more explosive, while neuromuscular coordination also improves after a good warm-up;
    • Psychological, because a properly warmed up musculature suggests through the body hormonal and neurological channels readiness, a “thirst to perform”, and general feelings of well-being.

    Then, master a perfect exercise technique, exercise gradually and respect a program.

    Istvan “Steve” Javorek

    Read Istvan Javorek’s guide to Dumbbell Training 

    www.istvanjavorek.com  ijavorek@istvanjavorek.com