With pre-season well and truly upon us for many of the winter sports, we wanted to talk about the art of an effective warmup. Many sporting injuries unfortunately happen at the beginning of the session because of an inadequate warm-up.
There has been a gradual shift in the way warm-ups are now done. In the past, a jog and static stretching was the norm, but now evidence is pointing away from this. It has been suggested that static stretching in the warm-up can actually be detrimental and lead to injury but we don’t completely know yet. Static stretches are still recommended for the cool down.
We now say that it is better to progress through dynamic movements, particularly ones that are relevant for your sport. The FIFA 11+ for soccer is an example of a good warmup. The research is showing that it is helping prevent injuries in soccer players.
A basic warm-up for the average team sport should start with a 1-2 minute jog with building intensity at the end. Instead of doing static stretches you could try dynamic stretches like leg swings or arm circles. Then progress through increasingly more dynamic exercises like; single leg balance, planks, squats, lunges, jumps/hops etc. And finally finish with more running but this time try sprinting and agility running with sharp changes of direction.
It is especially important to make it relevant for your sport. For example, cricket fast bowlers will do a lot of work with therabands and medicine balls to warm up their shoulders and backs. A good warm-up makes a big impact to the start of the game. If you would like any more information or help individualising a warmup program we are happy to help.
