Warm-up the Hidden Edge

Found this in the archives – Thought it would shed some light on this now "controversial aspect of training. This was written in 2002, before movement prep was born!

Warm-up
is the most neglected part of the workout, yes it is part of the workout. The
workout begins with the warm-up! The first mistake that people make is to take
warm-up for granted. It sets the tempo for the workout to follow. It is the
bridge from normal daily activities to actual training. Too much emphasis in
warm-up is placed on raising core temperature and heart rate, from a
physiological perspective that is not my main concern, rather it is neural
activation. Getting everything firing properly to prepare for the more intense
work to follow in the actual workout is most important. From a psychological
perspective the warm-up should almost be a ritual. This is a security point or
anchor for the athlete regardless of the situation.

The
warm-up is “active” not continuous. It should build progressively in intensity
into the workout. There is a great emphasis on mobility, not much on static
flexibility. Stretching does not warm you up! It is only a part of warm-up.
Flexibility is trained as a separate training unit, preferably after the
workout. For descriptions of the actual exercises, sample warm-ups as well as
cool down activities, see the Warm-up and Preparation video. The
coordination portion of warm-up should be tailored to fit the theme of that
day’s workout. That will serve to specifically prepare the athlete for the
day’s activities as well as add much needed variety. Pay particular attention
to the order and sequence of the warm-up. It is designed to flow synergistically
from one exercise into the next.

Last but
no least, think of warm-up as a daily investment in general fitness training.
Given that warm-up should be a minimum of twenty mites a day, the cumulative
fitness benefits of warm-up rapidly accrue. Twenty minutes a day, six day a
week adds up to two additional hours of training a week. Over forty-eight
training weeks that represents a significant amount of training time.

Active Multi-Stage Warm-up

1) Mini
Band Routine (12” band above ankles)

 Sidestep

 Walk – Forward/Back

 Carioca

 Monster Walk

2) Basic
Core (3 Kg Med Ball)

 Wide Rotation x 20

 Tight Rotation x 20

 Side to Side x 20

 Chop to Knee x 20

 Figure 8 x 20

 Big Circle x 5 each direction

3)
Balance & Stability

 Single Leg Squat (Hold each position
five counts)

 a) Straight 2 x ea leg

 b) Side 2 x ea leg

 c) Rotation 2 x ea leg

Balance Shift

 Shift Right – Shift Left

 Forward Right – Forward
Left

 Back Right – Back Left

4) Multi
Dimensional Stretch

Lunge & Reach Series ( 2 reps in each plane – Forward/Side/Rotational)

 Reach Up

 Reach Out &
Down

 Reach Across

Jack Knife Crawl x 5

Spiderman Crawl x 5

5) Active
Stretch (No more than two minutes)

 Calf

Hamstrings

Psoas

Lats

Pecs

6) Coordination (All @ 30 meters x 2)

Skip

Crossover Skip

Side Step 

Carioca 

Backward Run 

High Skip

High Skip with Rotation

7)
Accelerations

 4 – 6 x 30 meters

8) Sport
Specific Activities