The Importance of a Dynamic Warmup
“High Knees! Knee Hugs! Butt Kicks! Sumo Lunge! Soldier Marches! Carioca! Crab Walks! Bear Crawls! Alright, let’s get to work!”
And anything similar is probably a visceral memory all athletes can relate to. All of these exercises comprise some of the most common in a concept of the dynamic warmup. All athletes should participate in some form of a dynamic warmup before beginning practice or sport, as there are numerous benefits. However, how often are athletes actually informed of this? How often are athletes educated on how to create their own, say, in the off-season, where they are expected to maintain their level?
Coaches and parents should take the opportunity to educate their athletes at the middle and high school levels to better prepare them for the rigors of sport and practice. Dynamic warmups are consistently shown to increase performance, and there are a multitude of reasons as to why.
Dynamic What?
A dynamic warmup is a set of exercises conducted before sport or practice to help gear the body for the demands of the incoming practice or game. The name comes from the concept of dynamic stretching where an athlete moves in similar mechanisms and movement patterns as required by their sport. This runs contrary to what most believe should be done before exercise or sport, that of static stretching.
Static stretching was once the gold standard before an athletic event but has since been shown to be detrimental to performance. This is because muscles are similar to rubber bands, and when one stretches a cold muscle, it is akin to stretching a cold rubber band. They have the potential to snap, crack, and break especially if immediately required to meet intense demands.
Dynamic warmups counter this “cold effect” by priming the muscles to move more efficiently and effectively, “warming” up the muscle fibers to be better prepared for exercise demands.
Why Warmup Dynamically?
As aforementioned briefly, dynamic warmups prime the muscles for better function in practice, exercise, and sport. Moreover, there are a multitude of other benefits that can aid in an athlete’s performance on the field.
The reason why a dynamic warmup primes the muscles is due to a systemic response of increased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the muscles, enhanced muscle elasticity and joint range of motion, improved neuromuscular activation, and injury prevention, which all serve to aid in an improvement in athletic performance.
Muscles need oxygen to work, especially in aerobic conditions (conditions of exercise and/or athletic performance lasting longer than 2 minutes). The best way muscles receive this is through blood. When blood can course faster, more blood can get to the muscles to provide more oxygen to be utilized (there is a potential tradeoff, however, where blood can move too quickly for optimal oxygen uptake, but that is at vigorous intensities and potentially only brief moments).
With increased blood flow, that is also increased warmth brought to the muscles (continuing with our “warming the rubber bands” analogy). This warmth allows muscles to become more elastic and flexible, aiding joints to move more fluidly as well.
The nervous system requires blood just as everything else in the body, so when blood flow increases, so does the opportunity for the brain to recognize when to activate what muscles in a more optimal manner than at resting states.
All of this can aid in preventing injury, which will give peace of mind to the athlete to perform at the best of their ability. The athlete now knows the systemic response a dynamic warmup has provided, and they can now perform optimally.
A Little More In-Depth
To dive a little deeper beyond the simple rubber band analogy and tie in some cardiorespiratory aspects of conditioning, a dynamic warmup can serve to aid and/or minimize the oxygen deficit or lag.
Oxygen deficit is when the body needs a period of time to be able to catch up to the imposed demands one places on it. The body essentially lags as it generates enough energy to meet these demands. The dynamic warmup, if conducted properly for about 5-10 minutes, should allow any athlete the opportunity to meet whatever demands are placed upon their body.
This lag is similar to a car attempting to hit a certain speed, say, 80 mph. The car does not instantaneously achieve 80 mph; instead, it takes a handful of seconds to arrive at the desired speed. The same concept applies here. The body needs some time to adjust to the new demands after the athlete’s body is at rest.
Strategies for Designing a Dynamic Warmup
Dynamic warmups can vary immensely depending on the sport, exercise, practice, event, etc., that an athlete or participant will be taking part. As described earlier, High Knees and Butt Kicks are some of the most common exercises included as they help to stretch and contract some of the most important muscles in almost all sports, the quads and glutes.
Probably the best method as to how to decide what exercises to do is to identify and dissect the skills the sport, exercise, practice, event, etc., requires. Additionally, many skills can be applied to a wide variety of sports, thus, a dynamic warmup could easily be developed with a base knowledge of skills and exercises.
For instance, in baseball, the most important skills are sprinting, catching, throwing, lateral shuffling, hitting, and sliding. In football, similar skills of sprinting, catching, lateral shuffling, backpedaling, jumping, and cutting are required. In basketball, similar to baseball and football, sprinting, catching, throwing, shuffling, backpedaling, jumping, redirecting, and catching are necessary.
A coach or athlete can take these skills at the basic level to know that running can be simplified to running in place, High Knees, Butt Kicks, or even Soldier Marches. Jumping can be simulated with some Horizontal and Vertical Bounds or even Broad Jumps. Shuffling can be replicated with Lateral Shuffle, Carioca, or Sumor Lunges. Cutting and Backpedaling can be combined into their own movement. Priming for throwing is best completed by starting with Arm Circles, Pronation, and Supination and starting with small to long-distance throws (probably the most common dynamic warmup, one would probably imagine).
There are numerous ways to design a dynamic warmup, but as long as the warmup includes athletic movements that are found in the sport or event, it is on the right track. The dynamic warmup should aim to last about 5-10 minutes as this has been shown to be an ideal amount of time to prepare the body for activity. It should also consist of roughly 5-10 different exercises targeting different body parts for a certain amount of time, a certain distance, or a certain distance in a certain amount of time.
A simple template of a dynamic warmup an athlete could follow is:
Baseball Dynamic Warmup
Arm Circles Large, Medium, and Small, Forward and Reverse 20 seconds each
Back Claps 20 seconds
Hand Circles Clockwise and Counter-Clockwise 20 seconds each
Torso Twists Left and Right 20 seconds
High Knees 2 x 10 yards
Butt Kicks 2 x 10 yards
Soldier March 1 x 10 yards
Horizontal Bounds 2 x 10 yards
Vertical Bounds 2 x 10 yards
Lateral Shuffle into Quick Sprint (shuffle for 5 yards, sprint out last 5 yards) 2 x 10 yards
Options are Boundless
The dynamic warmup has been consistently shown to improve athletic performance. It allows the body to catch up to the exercise demands about to be placed upon it, and it can better help athletes make the mind-body connection of the actions they warmed up to the movements they will compete. It has the potential to be anything it needs to be based upon sport and athletic level. And it is an absolutely crucial element in overall practice and training for an athlete seeking an invaluable scholarship.
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The Importance of a Dynamic Warmup
“High Knees! Knee Hugs! Butt Kicks! Sumo Lunge! Soldier Marches! Carioca! Crab Walks! Bear Crawls! Alright, let’s get to work!”
And anything similar is probably a visceral memory all athletes can relate to. All of these exercises comprise some of the most common in a concept of the dynamic warmup. All athletes should participate in some form of a dynamic warmup before beginning practice or sport, as there are numerous benefits. However, how often are athletes actually informed of this? How often are athletes educated on how to create their own, say, in the off-season, where they are expected to maintain their level?
Coaches and parents should take the opportunity to educate their athletes at the middle and high school levels to better prepare them for the rigors of sport and practice. Dynamic warmups are consistently shown to increase performance, and there are a multitude of reasons as to why.
Dynamic What?
A dynamic warmup is a set of exercises conducted before sport or practice to help gear the body for the demands of the incoming practice or game. The name comes from the concept of dynamic stretching where an athlete moves in similar mechanisms and movement patterns as required by their sport. This runs contrary to what most believe should be done before exercise or sport, that of static stretching.
Static stretching was once the gold standard before an athletic event but has since been shown to be detrimental to performance. This is because muscles are similar to rubber bands, and when one stretches a cold muscle, it is akin to stretching a cold rubber band. They have the potential to snap, crack, and break especially if immediately required to meet intense demands.
Dynamic warmups counter this “cold effect” by priming the muscles to move more efficiently and effectively, “warming” up the muscle fibers to be better prepared for exercise demands.
Why Warmup Dynamically?
As aforementioned briefly, dynamic warmups prime the muscles for better function in practice, exercise, and sport. Moreover, there are a multitude of other benefits that can aid in an athlete’s performance on the field.
The reason why a dynamic warmup primes the muscles is due to a systemic response of increased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the muscles, enhanced muscle elasticity and joint range of motion, improved neuromuscular activation, and injury prevention, which all serve to aid in an improvement in athletic performance.
Muscles need oxygen to work, especially in aerobic conditions (conditions of exercise and/or athletic performance lasting longer than 2 minutes). The best way muscles receive this is through blood. When blood can course faster, more blood can get to the muscles to provide more oxygen to be utilized (there is a potential tradeoff, however, where blood can move too quickly for optimal oxygen uptake, but that is at vigorous intensities and potentially only brief moments).
With increased blood flow, that is also increased warmth brought to the muscles (continuing with our “warming the rubber bands” analogy). This warmth allows muscles to become more elastic and flexible, aiding joints to move more fluidly as well.
The nervous system requires blood just as everything else in the body, so when blood flow increases, so does the opportunity for the brain to recognize when to activate what muscles in a more optimal manner than at resting states.
All of this can aid in preventing injury, which will give peace of mind to the athlete to perform at the best of their ability. The athlete now knows the systemic response a dynamic warmup has provided, and they can now perform optimally.
A Little More In-Depth
To dive a little deeper beyond the simple rubber band analogy and tie in some cardiorespiratory aspects of conditioning, a dynamic warmup can serve to aid and/or minimize the oxygen deficit or lag.
Oxygen deficit is when the body needs a period of time to be able to catch up to the imposed demands one places on it. The body essentially lags as it generates enough energy to meet these demands. The dynamic warmup, if conducted properly for about 5-10 minutes, should allow any athlete the opportunity to meet whatever demands are placed upon their body.
This lag is similar to a car attempting to hit a certain speed, say, 80 mph. The car does not instantaneously achieve 80 mph; instead, it takes a handful of seconds to arrive at the desired speed. The same concept applies here. The body needs some time to adjust to the new demands after the athlete’s body is at rest.
Strategies for Designing a Dynamic Warmup
Dynamic warmups can vary immensely depending on the sport, exercise, practice, event, etc., that an athlete or participant will be taking part. As described earlier, High Knees and Butt Kicks are some of the most common exercises included as they help to stretch and contract some of the most important muscles in almost all sports, the quads and glutes.
Probably the best method as to how to decide what exercises to do is to identify and dissect the skills the sport, exercise, practice, event, etc., requires. Additionally, many skills can be applied to a wide variety of sports, thus, a dynamic warmup could easily be developed with a base knowledge of skills and exercises.
For instance, in baseball, the most important skills are sprinting, catching, throwing, lateral shuffling, hitting, and sliding. In football, similar skills of sprinting, catching, lateral shuffling, backpedaling, jumping, and cutting are required. In basketball, similar to baseball and football, sprinting, catching, throwing, shuffling, backpedaling, jumping, redirecting, and catching are necessary.
A coach or athlete can take these skills at the basic level to know that running can be simplified to running in place, High Knees, Butt Kicks, or even Soldier Marches. Jumping can be simulated with some Horizontal and Vertical Bounds or even Broad Jumps. Shuffling can be replicated with Lateral Shuffle, Carioca, or Sumor Lunges. Cutting and Backpedaling can be combined into their own movement. Priming for throwing is best completed by starting with Arm Circles, Pronation, and Supination and starting with small to long-distance throws (probably the most common dynamic warmup, one would probably imagine).
There are numerous ways to design a dynamic warmup, but as long as the warmup includes athletic movements that are found in the sport or event, it is on the right track. The dynamic warmup should aim to last about 5-10 minutes as this has been shown to be an ideal amount of time to prepare the body for activity. It should also consist of roughly 5-10 different exercises targeting different body parts for a certain amount of time, a certain distance, or a certain distance in a certain amount of time.
A simple template of a dynamic warmup an athlete could follow is:
Baseball Dynamic Warmup
Arm Circles Large, Medium, and Small, Forward and Reverse 20 seconds each
Back Claps 20 seconds
Hand Circles Clockwise and Counter-Clockwise 20 seconds each
Torso Twists Left and Right 20 seconds
High Knees 2 x 10 yards
Butt Kicks 2 x 10 yards
Soldier March 1 x 10 yards
Horizontal Bounds 2 x 10 yards
Vertical Bounds 2 x 10 yards
Lateral Shuffle into Quick Sprint (shuffle for 5 yards, sprint out last 5 yards) 2 x 10 yards
Options are Boundless
The dynamic warmup has been consistently shown to improve athletic performance. It allows the body to catch up to the exercise demands about to be placed upon it, and it can better help athletes make the mind-body connection of the actions they warmed up to the movements they will compete. It has the potential to be anything it needs to be based upon sport and athletic level. And it is an absolutely crucial element in overall practice and training for an athlete seeking an invaluable scholarship.