Warming up, ditch the old school style!

The more technical benefits of a warm-up are

• increased blood flow
• increased oxyhemoglobin breakdown with increased oxygen delivery to muscles
• increased circulation leading to decreased vascular resistance
• increased release of oxygen from myoglobin
• enhanced cellular metabolism
• reduced muscle viscosity leading to smoother muscle contraction and increased mechanical efficiency
• increased speed or nerve impulses
• increased sensitivity of nerve receptors
• decreased activity of alpha fibers and sensitivity of muscles to stretch
• decreased number of injuries die to increased range of motion. decreased stiffness of connective tissue leading to decreased likelihood of tears. increased cardiovascular response to sudden strenuous exercise
• increased relaxation and concentration

Literature in the area of does warm-up reduce injury is quite limited but of the few that exist evidence is in favour of warming up in an attempt to reduce injury risk. The potential for reduced injury rates  may be greater if the type of warm-up relates directly to the activity to be undertaken. Being in a group of similar ages and abilities can also help to reduce injury occurrence.

So what should we be putting into our warm-ups? a two lap jog, stretching? the first only if you are an 800m runner or more the second not with me you don't.

The warm-up should last between 5-20 minutes. the type of activities in the warm-up are as follows:

There is NO place in the warm-up for STATIC STRETCHING, this lengthens the muscles making a higher risk of injury when the muscles want to contract quickly.

Mobility and flexibility - target the muscle groups and movement patterns that you will using during your training. if the activity is not running based then you do not need to do any running. if you are a sprinter why do a two lap jog. you need to opt for some functional movements that replicate the patterns you will be performing in the main part of the session. try to prioritise functional and sport related movements starting at a low intensity and increase to a higher intensity. Examples include for sprinters fast high knees, parallel heel flicks, acceleration and deceleration sets, bounding. A tennis player needs to perform lateral movements as well as forward, get someone to blow a whistle so you have to react to change quickly, try arms swings with racket.

Pre-activate muscles - Perform isometric contractions with the ,muscles you are going to use. Isometric means contracting a muscles without the limb moving, for example stood facing a wall up close, place one thigh against wall and push.

Balance and co-ordination - Balance is often neglected but the warm-up so good place to put a few of the basics. Examples include standing on one leg with the eyes closed. this gets the sensory receptors firing. co-ordination is important in most sports and needs challenging regularly to improve, an example would be for a jumper perform hop scotch whilst performing forward arm swings.

As you can see a warm-up is functional and specific to your sport just like your training.