How to make warm-up interesting?

The Forums Ask Us.
1

I just returned from my volunteering practice, and I asked my players is the warm-up procedure we use too hard or too low, do they feel warmed-up, etc? They answered it is ok, but it is becoming boring… Actually, I am also bored giving them the same thing (with littele variation). I naswered to them that we should have a reliable and well-know warm-up procedure that should allways use (with difference in specific part). I said to them that I fell bored when I do my work-outs but it is for the best!

I was thinking to swat some exercises/drills with same goal to make them more interesting…
Any opinions, suggestion?

2

How many players do you have, and what type of sport are you warming up for?

3

I have 16 basketball players… 91’

4

What doas your current warmup look like? Doas it consist of drills or a dynamic stretching routine?

5

What about adding in some light things like 1 arm DB Snatches (light weight)? This will get the blood flowing. You could also look to medball work as a way to get in some general movement. You wouldn’t need high intensity throws to do this, but just some higher rep lower intensity ones (side toss for example or easy underhand ones–just be creative with it). Another one that can almost be a workout in itself would be something like this:

After easy jogging/skipping/stretching–
30seconds of a callisthenic immediately into a 10m sprint w/ 30 seconds rest to get back and be ready for the next bout. Do that a bit and the guys should be warmed up nicely.

6

Play some rap music mix tapes over the load speaker.

7

Although things like this movement could be effective it is highly unlikly he will be able to get 91 (13/14 year olds?) born children doing 1 arm snatchs on court during a warmup.

This is an effective warmup, however, like Duxx was saying. His warmup, like the one you posted, is not a fun warmup. Which is his main problem as they are 91 born so they are about 13/14(?).

However, he could possibly use your stated warmup, but add some competivness and sport specification to it.

For example split them into teams and make them perform the sprints while dribling a basketball.

8

for 15U and under the warm up should be more about a change in phsyological state and getting them so that they don’t pull a muscle not about increaseing performance before the game/meet.

9

Didn’t realize the age. Apologies.

10

General warm-up

  • Jog, side shuffle, backward 5-8mins easy

Joint rotations (dynamic flex?, 8-12x each side)
MODUL A (neck head)

  • forward-backward
  • left-right
  • turn left-right
  • circles

MODUL B (shoulder, arms)

  • shoulder rotations &variations
  • arm rotations &variations
  • elbow rotations &variations
  • wrist and fingers

MODUL C (hips, low back)

  • Cat/Camill
  • Hip cirlces
  • Torso cirlces (straight back)

MODUL D (hips, knees, ankles)

  • Leg circles (“something” like on GPP DVD)
  • Tibia circles (lifted thight, lower leg cirlces)
  • Easy squats
  • Ankle rotations and various walking (heels, toes, outsie, heel-toes…)

Static stretching (8-10sec each position)
MODUL A (neck, shoulders, pecs, arms)

  • head down
  • head left-right
  • shoulders up-down
  • triceps (arms behind)
  • Wrist up-down
  • Biceps and pecs on sweedish ladders
  • Goodmorning with arms straight on sw. ladd.
  • side flexion (legs wide)

MODUL B (lying position on back)

  • cat-camille
  • lying on the floor, streching arms and legs (pushing arms up, and leg down)
  • pushing one arm up, other down
  • Head flexion (legs bent)
  • Knee to pecs
  • Knee to shoulder (piriformis stretch)
  • Leg to side (rotational stretch)
  • both legs to the pecs
  • hamstring strech
    (to stomach)
  • Cobra
  • sit on the heels and stretch arms (upper back stretch)
  • Scorpion

MODUL C (near floor exercises)

  • Hip flexor stretch
  • Sumo
  • Kozak (adductor stretch)
  • Hamstring stretch while sitting (back straight)
  • Quads stretch
  • Gastocnemius and soleus stretch

Kalistenics for activating muscles and core (6-10sec isom, 5-15 reps)
MODUL A (stomach and arms)

  • push-ups &variations
  • Isom push-up position while lifting one hand
  • Isom. stomach exercises on back or something that keep back in neutral thus activating corew stability mechanisms
  • Leg rises (bycicle, swimming, ABC etc)

MODUL B (back, and side stomach)

  • Bridge isom &variations
  • Kinezitherapy exercises on stomach (lifting legs, arsms etc for postural balance)
  • side bridge (they have poor form so I avoid doing them with team, only when working with individuals)
  • dird-dog

MODUL C (legs, glutes)

  • Lunges &variations
  • Squats &variations
  • Dead lift &variations
  • Good morning &variations
  • Hip execises on floor (woman exercises-add, abd)

DRILLS (transition to specific warm-up, see the picture - everything is done while running backwar and formard)
MODUL A (additional warm-up)

  • easy running
  • side-step
  • running and arm cirles

MODUL B (hip, knee, ankle)

  • ankling
  • leg infront, inback
  • Butt-kick
  • A drill, skip
  • Drum major
  • Carioca

MODUL C (easy jumps, ankles)

  • Cross runing (leg in front of the other)
  • Skiing (running wide, jumping from one leg to another)
  • Split-scisors (low amplitude)
  • Zig-zag jumps on one leg (to center from center other leg, other side backward)
  • Jumps forward, backward &variations

MODUL D (basketball defence)

  • Picking from the floor
  • Defence whole court
  • Defence with pivoting (rotating on the leg)

MODUL E (jumps)

  • Sailor jumps
  • Scisors
  • Child jumps (skip for height with one arm and contralateral knee high)
  • Child jump with crossing (knee inside, ar to a side)
  • Jumps with rotations &variations
  • Fast jumps
  • Strong jumps
  • Jumps for ditance

MODUL F (doing diagonales, agility, stopping)

  • diagonales &variations
  • zig-zag rhythm diagonales
  • running, stopping on mark or on signal
  • Defense and stopping on signam, mark
  • Zig-zag jumps and freeze on a signal
  • Jumps for distance from one leg to another and freeze on signal
  • other drills

MODUL G

  • Couple of calistenic exercises

MODUL H (dynamic stretches, balistic)

  • leg swings
  • arm swing with ball

Specific warm-u and coordination (this is mostly done by head coach to prepare the for the main goals in main part)
MODUL A (coordination)

  • Drills with ball (spider, one leg-single leg…)
  • Dribling, jump-shot…
  • Dribling with two balls
  • Wall drills and other ball drills

MODUL B (team)

  • various types of passing with team player (in motin, with jump, with two balls)
  • passing, dribbling, dunking etc
  • Defence with team player…

This takes about 30 min, but players are pliable, warmed up, ready for HI etc But give them to dringk something!
When there is sprint and general training once a week, specific part and transitional part consists of Mach drills, wind sprints etc

The main thing here is that I have to put most of it in the warm-up, because this is the only time when I work with them (mostly)! Not all exercises should be done, but couple from each MODULE!
You see that I am very systematic in everything including warm-up! Warm up should be consistent, progresive, specific, but should it be boring? I try to make some variations so that is interesting, but some things should be done in consistent way?

11

Your warmup up should stay consistant, despite it not being fun, aslong as it prepares them correctly for the upcoming session and prevents injury. How have you tried to make it fun during previous sessions?

Do not perform “fun” drills that are not considerd as an effective warmup drill. Their health is priority number one, I know they are young, but the sooner they realize this the sooner they will just get on with your warmup.

Also on a side note, I am not sure of how much this holds truth, but apparently static stretching before activity (in this case the main session) infact increases the chance of injury or atleast doas not decrease the chance of injury. So it is technically not an effective warmup drill if this holds any truth.

12

My warm-up had the same structure and progression, but some drills are little changed (skip while circling with hand, rotating etc). I try to put in some coordination work to keep them “thinking” and bussy…

Yes and no! Static stretching prior main part is detrimental (jumping from static stretching to HI exercises is “dangereous” and on the other hand static stretching warm-down gained core temp). So this is why I give them a transition period(DRILLS) before specific warm-up! On the other hand, head coach wants to stretch them… …and I dont have time to stretch them after the work-out …and stretch hold is not so long and intense to give detrimental effects! It is used to mobilize spine and joints, removing thixotrophicx effect in muslces (Enoka, 2002) and making them more pliable. Because spine is mobilize with static strething, I give them isometric core exercises to stabilize the torso after stretching.
when I do my workouts I have same structure and progresion, and I feel that static strethcing (on back) “return my spine in normal position” and prepare it (after core and spec warm-up) to sustains load under the bar! You must remember that those kids just returned from school where they sit whole day, thus there is thighness in hip flexors, back, shoulders etc! I have everything in mind :slight_smile:
So my opinion is that static streching should be done in “middle” part of warm-up, before core-exercises and before specific warm-up, thus allowing some time gap between stretching and main workout…

13

My warm-up had the same structure and progression, but some drills are little changed (skip while circling with hand, rotating etc). I try to put in some coordination work to keep them “thinking” and bussy…

This may not be possible for you to perform, or may ruin the structure and progression of your warmup.

But during module D you could split the group into pairs and add some competitivness, and game like sport specification, to the warmup. Take for example on the “defence whole court” you could do the following (see picture at bottem):

  1. Split into pairs
  2. At an intensity of your choice one person dribbles, from the baseline to the halfway line, in a zig zag motion while his partner defends him.
  3. At the halfway line switch around roles of the kids. (defender now dribbling) Once pair one have reached the halfway line tell pair 2 to go.
  4. When kids get to the baseline perform a light jog across to the other side of the baseline and repeat.

You could split the group of teams in half so X amount are at one side of the court while X amount are at the other side of the court. This will help to keep the drill running fluently and make sure no one is stood around once the drill is in full motion.

Yes and no! Static stretching prior main part is detrimental (jumping from static stretching to HI exercises is “dangereous” and on the other hand static stretching warm-down gained core temp). So this is why I give them a transition period(DRILLS) before specific warm-up! On the other hand, head coach wants to stretch them… …and I dont have time to stretch them after the work-out …and stretch hold is not so long and intense to give detrimental effects! It is used to mobilize spine and joints, removing thixotrophicx effect in muslces (Enoka, 2002) and making them more pliable. Because spine is mobilize with static strething, I give them isometric core exercises to stabilize the torso after stretching.
when I do my workouts I have same structure and progresion, and I feel that static strethcing (on back) “return my spine in normal position” and prepare it (after core and spec warm-up) to sustains load under the bar! You must remember that those kids just returned from school where they sit whole day, thus there is thighness in hip flexors, back, shoulders etc! I have everything in mind
So my opinion is that static streching should be done in “middle” part of warm-up, before core-exercises and before specific warm-up, thus allowing some time gap between stretching and main workout…

I totally agree, now that it has been explained in some depth (by you) I understand. :smiley:

14

There is an argument/suggestion of static stretching being detrimental/dangerous to performance and then a competitive element in the warm-up is suggested? I don’t get it…

For what is worth I wouldn’t include any such elements and especially for them I would stay clear of any “specificity” in their warm-up; they’ve got plenty of this in the game and they need to be in a position to want to enjoy it, not repeat things…

15

Long static stretching right is argued to be detrimental/dangerous before high intensity activity, the drill I stated doas not have to be at 100%. It can be made competative, however that depends on intensity chosen. I also stated it may ruin the progression of his warmup, as he may have to move this drill forward to avoid it being near the static stretching. He could possibly perform this drill just before the coach takes over the warmup.

Taking into acount your point that you do not want them repeating things. The only way to get better at something fundamentally is by doing it repeatedly. It all depends on the ability of the participants if they are there to improve as in a team training session, then they must be prepared for repetitive training. However, if it is an open session fun also has to be taken into consideration as a major variable. No fun = No participants.

Although you say there will be enough dribbling and defence in the main session, I am sure they would find dribbling and defence more fun than doing defensive slides with no one to mark, despite it being in the main session.

It is better, in my opinion, to introduce them to game situations in the warmup even if it is at half pace. This way they are preparing for what they will be actually doing later on in the session. Find me a team basketball session were there is no dribbling or defence.

**Duxx - what is the ability level of the participants? Is it a team training or a genreal open session?

16

Actually we do this, but in specific part, module B! This is mostlzy done by head coach!
Intensity through warm-up is gruadually increased, so does the similarities with game-specificity, thus allowing a smooth transition to HI game pracitce (technique, tactics etc)! Gradual, progressive, specific, reliable, consistent - key words for WU!

This is 91’ selected players, very skillful and able… I am volunteerig in Partizan Basketball Club, their basketball school is very famous! Thus it is better to say that I am there to learn and not to tech much :slight_smile:

17

I understand your motive behind wanting making the warm-up fun. But as these are selected players they should be tought to understand that a warmup is for their saftey and may not always be fun. The sooner they learn this, if they do not know it already, the sooner they will start to enjoy the warmup as they know it is benefiting them by preparing them correctly for training.

18

Agree! I allready told them that… …but tnx Peter!

19

Good luck with the future training Duxx, maybe one day you will be the head coach. :smiley:

20

Here are a few ideas for stuff I do with some of my athletes during tempo days (where specific warmup isn’t so necessary) to stop them getting bored. It probably isn’t that useful for your team sport but here are some ideas anyway…

  1. Swinging! - on high gymnastics bar (at reduced height) using first 2 legs, 1 leg coming through at a time - like pole vault. Change to swing with pike, swing with tuck, swing with stradle etc… Then a few gymnastic upstarts. Also same thing on rings. Swinging and jumping to land on crash mats (later in warm up!).

  2. Med ball warm ups… gental throw the ball and run after it in different ways. Football style - with a med ball (gently now!), hockey - using hand to move med ball along the ground trying to keep back as flat as possible. I use games with this like follow the leader and cone races (in a small area so they can’t build up too much speed).

  3. Co-ordination drills - skipping with various arm movements at the same time. Also changing from forwards to backward etc and even around in circles.

  4. Low intensity team games - Forward roll races, backward roll races and trampoline games such as “cat and mouse” on all fours around the high jump mat. Frisbe in the summer! Med ball team games - such as passing ball over head and then between legs. How many can you do in a set time?

  5. Olympic lifting warm ups. Clean/snatch complexes with very light weights (e.g. 25kg). How many can you do in a minute/30s? You can do these as team rotations where each athlete does a complex and then the other team has to copy it. Each “set” you make the complex longer and the team has to remember it and mirror it back. Can be done in pairs also.

Just use your imaginination. So long as it is low intensity and uses a large range of motion it can be a warm up. Obviously some of these ideas would come later in the warm up than others.

TC