Have you ever seen a pro baseball or soccer team warm up before a game or practice?
They do a kick, then take 4 steps, then another half-assed kick, then they swing their arms around a little – walk about 3- more steps – talking to their buddy the entire time – – I can’t stand it.
Even guys I have trained who know better will do this kind of warm-up once they get with their team. I feel like jumping onto the turf and giving them a smack. I can only assume it is the culture. I think that culture could be changed in a hurry if the players were shown how to effectively warm up and if they understood why it is important.
How it will actually help you perform better right from the second the puck drops, how it will make your muscles more responsive, how it will keep your energy from crashing, how it will make your muscles more pliable and powerful.
For the record, I think for the most part pro hockey players do a much better job of this, but I still see some team warm ups that could use a little (a lot of) improvement. So let’s go over the key ingredients:
Self-Myofascial Release
This is foam rolling or using The Stick or a lacrosse ball to give yourself a massage. The goal is to improve muscle quality to make it more compliant. Some argue that it does nothing but improve your tolerance to foam rolling, but for those of you who do it regularly, you will know that you used to find knots in your muscles that were very painful and after about 3-6 weeks those knots disappeared and the tissue seemed more pliable – so we do it.
The biggest mistake I see is going WAY to fast – it is not a roller coaster ride, it is a massage. So go slowly, don’t be shy to sit on any knots you find until they dissipate a little and then continue rolling.
Realistically, you will spend 30-seconds on each area – glutes, IT Bands (the borders), lats, adductors, hamstrings and quads.
Static Stretch
Yes, we static stretch before we workout and you should before you play or practice for the reasons I explained HERE.
We hold each stretch for 30 seconds and do a stretch for the hamstrings, lats, hip flexors, hip rotators, glutes and calves (with variation based on what the athletes need).
Here is a sample static stretch circuit that we have used at Revolution Conditioning…
If you cannot see the video in the player, click here:
http://youtu.be/qxNFHgxz9aA
Dynamic Warm Up
This will include our activation exercises and our dynamic mobility exercises, we typically do it in a traveling manner (over about 10 meters per movement), but some will be stationary. We do the movements because they are important, so do them properly please and if you are a trainer or a coach… coach them – make sure they are paying attention to the detail.
If you cannot see the video in the player above, just click here:
http://youtu.be/lYJ1UOhuanw
Okay gang – show time….gotta run. If you like variety, I have loaded up four brand new dynamic warm ups for goalies over in the Shutout Academy. Just go to the FREE Bonuses page, it looks like this…
Click HERE to get those. Don’t worry, if you aren’t in the Shutout Academy, you can still get ’em for just $1 >> here’s how
Cheers,
M