The Warm Up: Part 2
Hopefully the days of static stretching being utilised in a warm up are numbered. The proposed benefit of stretching reducing the risk of injury are unsubstantiated and unproven. Research has proven that the use of static stretching during a warm up has the potential to reduce power output and has no effect on reducing injury risk (Pope et al. 2000, Herbert and Gabriel 2002, Behm and Chaouachi 2011). On the other hand, dynamic stretching is crucial as the muscle is activated throughout its active range of motion. Thankfully, a helping hand is here. The UKSCA (United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association) introduced the ‘RAMP’ method of conducting a warm up (Jeffreys 2007), allowing coaches at all levels to build their own effective warm ups and removing the superfluous material.
RAMP is an acronym for:
- Raise
- Activate and Mobilise
- Potentiate
With each phase having a clear objective.
Raise
First phase has the aim of simply raising the core temperature of the athlete. As mentioned already, key movement patterns should be considered to be included here as to not waste any valuable time, a resource which some coaches are short on anyway. Over the course of a season it can act as an important coaching opportunity to develop these skills while still hitting the basics of raising their temperature:
• Unopposed passing practise
• Combination play exercise
• Low intensity running
• Low intensity rondo
• Technical exercise
• 4-6 minutes – Slightly raise body temperature and get players moving
Activate and Mobilise
1. Activating key muscle groups
The key muscle groups must first be identified for the sport. These needs to activated effectively and efficiently. Movements such as slow and controlled calf raises, T-balance, single leg squats, glute bridges, overhead squats and some jump/landing exercises should be sufficient to ‘switch on’ these muscle groups. For contact sports, upper body exercises should be incorporated.
2. Mobilising key joints and ROM through sport specific movements.
While the activation stage is focused on specific muscles, the mobilising stage should act upon improving movement capacity in muscle groups. By utilising dynamic movements, you can effectively maintain the elevated body temperature, activate key muscle groups through specific ranges of motion that are related to the sport and also activate the stabilising muscles around key joints such as the ankle, knee and hip. This is a time effective way of preparing your athletes for subsequent exercise Once the coach understands the key movements required then they can develop a routine series of dynamic movements that will provide the best preparation.
- Lunges
- Squats
- Straight leg raises
- Counter-movement jumps
- Jump – land – accelerate movements
- Cutting movements
Frank Ribery of Bayern Munich taking part in a rondo during training.
Potentiate
The final phase of the warm up and this is simply to raise the intensity of the exercise as the players/athletes gradually move towards match tempo. This period will often take the form of the exercise in which they are preparing for. For match play it may take the form of a rondo or a possession exercise including all 11 starting players. Often clubs may split their team into their position groups and perform specific tactical work with them. Provided this phase physically and mentally prepares the athletes for maximal intensity exercise then it can contain an activity of your choosing (Faigenbaum et al. 2005).
Potentiate
The final phase of the warm up and this is simply to raise the intensity of the exercise as the players/athletes gradually move towards match tempo. This period will often take the form of the exercise in which they are preparing for. For match play it may take the form of a rondo or a possession exercise including all 11 starting players. Often clubs may split their team into their position groups and perform specific tactical work with them. Provided this phase physically and mentally prepares the athletes for maximal intensity exercise then it can contain an activity of your choosing (Faigenbaum et al. 2005).
Conclusion
Hopefully this provides some clarity to this area. Like any other area of your coaching, a warm up should be pre-planned. Gone are the days where it’s enough to just ‘go for a slow jog’ and then play a match. The warm ups objective is to prepare athletes for maximal intensity exercise, and as such it should reflect this. The warm up should act as a coaching opportunity for you to increase the movement capacity of your players, or to provide a training effect by using speed/agility drills. Using the RAMP method, you should be able to develop your own effective warm up to get the best out of your players.
Take Home Message
- Understand the purpose of the warm up
- Maximise your coaching opportunities with your players.
- Pre-plan your warm ups for training to compliment your session
- Develop your own pre-match warm up
- Raise, Activate, Mobilise and Potentiate
References
- Behm, D. G. and Chaouachi, A. (2011) 'A review of the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching on performance', European journal of applied physiology, 111(11), 2633-2651.
- Faigenbaum, A. D., Bellucci, M., Bernieri, A., Bakker, B. and Hoorens, K. (2005) 'Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on fitness performance in children', J Strength Cond Res, 19(2), 376-81.
- Herbert, R. D. and Gabriel, M. (2002) 'Effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness and risk of injury: systematic review', Bmj, 325(7362), 468.
- Jeffreys, I. (2007) 'Warm up revisited–the ‘ramp’method of optimising performance preparation', UK Strength and Conditioning Association.
- Pope, R. P., Herbert, R. D., Kirwan, J. D. and Graham, B. J. (2000) 'A randomized trial of preexercise stretching for prevention of lower-limb injury', Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 32(2), 271-277.
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