Were is the research that outlines what is a “safe” protocol for a dynamic warm-up, such as time, activities, physiological response before range of motion can be addressed ect.
I practice dynamic warm-ups with my athletes I am just astonished with the type of activities that will cause these “crippling” microtears. I would like to have some research based evidence which says we must due X amount of low level activity (jogging, static streching, biking) before we can participate in dynamic flexibility execises or else performance will be diminished and possible injuries will happen due to microtears.
The problem I run into working as a S&C coach is that when I work with a team I usually have an hour to get them warmed up and get a productive workout done. This means that spending MORE than 15 minutes on general warm-up drastically reduces our training time to get some work done. When I do speed dev with a team I usually make the warm-up longer 20-25 minutes.
How long do most coaches here take to do a general warm-up before lifting? And speed?
A valid and reliable setup for such research would be difficult to achieve; external and internal temperature must be standardized; muscle tone must be standardized (kind of impossible, since it varies intra-individually and between people in general, etc.) So, if you anyhow find specific research on the subject, be watchful.
Don’t you think it’s better to heat up the body before starting a dynamic stretching routine? It’s quite understandable, that when being short with time, we try to cut some corners and directly start with a “dynamic warm-up” – heating the body and stretching at the same time (what could be more efficient?). However, it’s not optimal, and for athletes that need optimal circumstances, there are no quick routines.
There is no point in undermining the issue with “micro tears” when talking top level athletes. A minor tear in a muscle and a tendon will have it rip like paper (once a small cut, the paper tears nicely and without effort) when sufficient forces are put to motion (albeit it’s more common to have tears from previous trainings than due to pre workout stretching). However, this mainly applies to sprinting or jumping (or similar specific events) at high levels. In team sports, a shorter warm-up will probably be sufficient since the power output is lower, and as you said, time is a factor.
A decent warm-up before speed might be everything from 45min. to 2h, depending on circumstances and the training year. In GPP it might be shorter (45min-1h) and in competition it might take up to 2h (including first and second call-room in major championships that breaks up the routine somewhat).
Personally, I like “lapped” warm-ups:
- starting out with some jogging (or/and other similar stuff)
- some very easy stretching
- some more jogging
- more stretching and perhaps easy medicine ball
- more jogging (if needed) or few drills including some dynamic stretching
- drills and medicine balls
- running
- sprinting
The outline above is not exact, but you get the idea. The routine might also vary a little depending feel and what practice is at hands. But the idea is a kind of an interactive approach.
