This is part 2 of a 2 part series. Catch up on part 1.
A good dynamic warm up will get you ready for whatever sporting event you are going to do that day by targeting the tissues involved in that event. For example, if you are to go for a run, you would want to primarily warm up the calves, quads, glutes, and hamstrings. A dynamic warm up will not be the same for golf as it will be to go out for a run but they may contain some of the same components. The broad routine for a dynamic warm up should include soft tissue preparation, a general warm up and a specific warm up.
Soft tissue preparation would include using a rolling stick or ball and/or foam rolling the parts of the body that will be involved for the workout/sporting event. The general warm up should consist of general total body movements to increase heart rate and blood flow. This part of the warm up should be around 5-10 minutes and examples of this would be jogging, body weight squats, lunges with rotations, etc. Two quick movements that are always good to incorporate for nearly all sporting events are the glute-bridge and plank. It should include walking stretches with brief holds. The specific warm up transitions to more of the precise movements that the athlete will be performing during their exercise. The athlete should perform these movements in a full range of motion and gradually build their speed and intensity.
One large group of patients that I see that do not do any kind of warm up prior to their sport are surfers. A good PT/trainer/coach should vary the warm up and individualize it based on each athlete’s impairments and ability level but here is an example of a dynamic warm up that would not take more than 10 minutes prior to getting in the water:
- foam roll the LEs, pec stretch, snow angles, thoracic extension
- jog on the beach x3-5mins
- overhead squats, glute bridge, arm circles, rotator cuff isometrics at 90/90 x10reps each
- walking quad, hamstring, elbow to instep with rotation stretches x10 each
- pop ups, mtn climbers, singe leg balance PNF “chop”
If you need advice on how to properly warm up, schedule a session at ProActive PT!