Before taking part in sports or activities that require you to perform at an intense level, a warm up should be performed to help reduce the rick of an injury, like an ACL injury. In order to perform a warm up correctly you must first understand it and so in this post we will look at:
- What is a warm up
- The benefits of it
- List of possible exercises you can perform
What is a Warm Up
In its simplest form a warm up is a variety of exercises grouped together that form a structured program. These exercises can help reduce the risk of an athlete sustaining an injury like a strained muscle, sprained ankle, torn tendon or ruptured ligament. Unfortunately though these exercises are not a 100% guarantee against injury, but only to reduce the risk of someone being injured.
The purpose of a Warm Up
The purpose of a warm up is to allow your body to adapt to the stress being applied by an upcoming activity or sporting event, helping to reduce the risk of injuries like ACL injuries. Components like dynamic stretching, agility, strengthen and plyometric should be structured together in the form of exercises that meets the demands of your specific sports.Benefits of a Warm Up
- Increases the body's temperature.
- Helps prepare the muscles, tendons and ligaments for explosive movements.
- To increase a joints range of motion.
- Increases respiration and heart rate.
- Helps increase the intensity of the activity.
The type of exercises performed during a Warm Up
The set of exercises below were designed by my physiotherapist for me specifically and may differ from what your physiotherapist designs for you however, the goals of the warm up will stay the same for all types of programs.
List of Exercises
- Jogging x 3-5 minutes
- Knee to Chest with Lunge x 5 reps each leg
- Leg Cradles w/3second hold x 5 reps each leg
- Heel to Butt (Quadricep Stretch) w/ 3second hold x 5 reps each leg
- RDLs x 5 reps each leg
- Backwards Lunge into Hamstring Stretch x 3 reps each leg
- High Knees x over 15ft
- Heel Flicks x over 15ft
- High Skipping x over 30ft
- Side Shuffles x 10 reps either side x 2 sets
- Hamstring Doorkicks x 5 reps each leg
- Hip Openers (Forwards/Backwards) x 3 reps each
- Lateral Lunge x 3 reps each leg
- Squat Jumps x 3 reps x 2 sets
- Dynamic Hops x 5 reps each direction
- Sprint Builders x 3 reps (increase speed each time)
Now that you've finished reading what are your thoughts about the information,
- Did you find it helpful?
- Are you going through this journey right now?
- Do you have any advice for people?
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