ange,
could you run us through a typical warm-up for either tempo/ speed session?
its highlighted in the GPP but the video streaming isn’t great.
so could you run us through the process starting from jogging to donkey kicks etc
Warming up for Sprinting in Track and Field
3 Essential Rules for the Warm up.
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Think relaxation in all things you do. If you are not able to perform the movement in a relaxed way do something easier.
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Take your time. Don’t rush your warm up. I learned this lesson the hard way from former World and Olympic Champion in the men’s 100 meters Ben Johnson. I asked what he had thought of my race at one of my first national championships in 1991 in Montreal. He said “ okay , but you would have done so much better if you didn’t rush your warm up.”. I never forgot what he said and it changed the way I prepared for all training.
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An excellent guideline to know you are ready for the actual work of your training is achieving a mild sweat on your forehead. This rule does not seem overly sophisticated but it works. I am not talking about profuse sweating before you begin.
Some Guidelines for an extensive warm-up before Sprinting or Tempo
Note : Get in the habit of timing your warm up, pay attention to how much time various parts of your warm up and training take, and record it in your training diary. -
Jog slowly for 10 minutes or X number of laps around the track or grass if you have it. Usually 3 to 4 laps outside on outside track.
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We used the length of the football field (post to post) to perform a lot of the drills and runs in the warm up. It was a predictable distance and most often easy to replicate in almost any location in almost any country. Approx. 100 yds or meters depending Canada, US or Eurupe. Soccer or American Football.
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Once the 10 minutes of jogging took place we usually launched immediately into side skips down one length and shaking back. Generally we would mix in one , maybe two exercises at one end of the field. Generally the end where we had all of our bags , water etc. The exercises would be a mixture of med ball throws, donkey kicks. sit ups mixed with stretches. 5 to 8 minutes
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Side skips, grape vine, back ward arm circles and tripling were the main exercises on the way down the field and then usually we did what we called shaking back which was like a jog but shoulders are down and you are shaking your entire body. Some have commented on the silliness they feel doing this exercise but it promotes relaxation throughout the warm up.
NOTE: Shaking promotes relaxation. It’s not a jog. It’s not a skip. Your hands should fall to your side and as you are shuffling along in somewhat of a jog as you are shaking your body.
- @ approx. 18 to 20 minutes Power Speed Drills = Power Speed was included in 99% of every warm up I ever performed in 7 years of training.
• Bum kicks
• A skip
• B skip
• Running A’s
The distances might vary. A typical progression might be =
3 sets of each drill over 10 meters , then 4 x 10 meters of each drill. As the drills improve so too does the distance maybe. Quality first , volume second.
More is not better Practice makes permanent
HOW TO WARM UP PROPERLY IS TO BE CONTINUED =
There are things that need to be added after the power speed but often on tempo days that would be it. But maybe not.
Often we used a series of med ball throws routinely in our warm up.
After the 10 min jog and within the back and forths and before and or during the power speed.
When I first started out , I did far more little exercises in the body of the warm up before Power Speed. ( see the bike workout for this)
The reason for this was to gain FITNESS. So for all of you talking about how possibly fitness is not important for speed or the development of speed.
Pay close attention to the details within the warm up.
And I never lifted one weight for 2 full years. Instead I worked extensively with a very light med ball. I think it was 2 or 3 k. I remember complaining on deaf ears “when can I use a heavier ball”. I got nothing back.
You are ready to move ahead when you are ready to move ahead. Most athletes all want to move ahead faster . No kidding.
I distinctly remember you telling me this one day when you and I were warming up in the park. Ben told you to just let the warm-up unfold on its own and not to rush it.
It’s funny. I’ve tinkered with my warm-up routine a million ways to Sunday, and no matter how I arrange the specific elements and sequence, it always takes about 45-50 min before I feel ready to go.
This is the full warm up my athletes are doing at the moment.
Do as much of the warm up on grass as possible
A. 5 minutes of continuous activity, such as jogging/skipping
B. 5 minutes Foam Rolling (light quick rolls)
C. Optional 5 minutes Static Stretch
D. (Over 30-40 meters)
a. Skipping forward with arm spins forward, arm spins back
b. Skipping forward with exaggerated arm motion
c. Skipping forward with high knees
d. Skipping forward with high knees
e. Lateral Skipping down and back with arm swings
f. Carioca down and back
E. (Five Each Leg)
a. Sumo Squat 5 reps
b. Travelling Spiderman with overhead reach 4 reps each side
c. Squat to Stand 5 reps
d. Travelling Inchworm 5 reps
e. Lunge with 45 degree angle body 3 each side
F. Hurdle Drills
• Trail Leg 3 x 4
• Step Overs 3 x 4
• Step Over and Step Unders 3 x 4
• Can Can 3 x 4
G. Sprint Drills
a1. Step ‘A’ 3 x 10m
a2. Running High Knees 3 x 10m
b. Step ‘A’ Extension 3 x 10m
c. Straight Leg bounds to run 3 x 30m + 40m
d. Leg Swings 1 x 10 each leg
e. Lateral Leg Swings 1 x 10 each leg
H. Plyos
• Ankle Jumps 2 x 20
• Bounding 2 x 10m
G. Run Throughs
a. Runthroughs 4 x 60m
Personally my warm up use to take 45 - 50 minutes, some days it went longer and some days it went shorter (that was rare)
im trying to figure out the wamup from gpp video but viewing the video aint great. anyway ange…did you guys use a short and a long warm-up? if so could you please elaborate more or go into more detail
IVe changed mine a few times. Right now I do this, Ive also created a shorter version for meets.
10x50m walk 50 dynamic stretches during the walk
300 rope skips (optional)
Dynamic stretches, holding stretch for 2-5 secs for 5-10 reps, I also do some muscle contracting stretches I learned from a flexologist.
foam rolling
Glute activation drills to get the ass firing-bird dog, squats, supermans, glute bridge, and the one where you lie face down keep one leg straight and bend the other leg and raise the bent let while contracting glutes
2x10m-20 bounds. One for height, one for distance
walking high knee drill where I raise one leg and contract the glute on the support leg. 2x10 reps
Med ball accel x5
1x10,20,30 runs in flats.
Then im ready to rock.
X-Man asks
im trying to figure out the wamup from gpp video but viewing the video aint great. anyway ange…did you guys use a short and a long warm-up? if so could you please elaborate more or go into more detail.
[b]I am guessing you were hoping to see a real time warm up within GPP?
I have been reviewing GPP.
I understand why you are not able to replicate a warm up based on what you see.
At 8min:05 Charlie outlines almost exactly what I have written above.
After the initial introduction of GPP he outlines that a warm up needs to be
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Consistent
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Reliable
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Progressive ( within the warm up. Easiest exercises go first and progressively advance what is happening. For example, the PNF stretching might not occur until after Power Speed or it might not happen at all if the athlete is not loose enough.
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Tailored for individual use all all times regardless of the circumstances from a simple workout to the Olympic Final.
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First do it right ( speaking about Power Speed) and then speed it up.
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[b]Warm up 1 is what I outlined.
Warm up 2 is what came after the power speed and stretching on Speed days and or comp days to prepare specifically for speed training.
Warm up 2 is basically progressive strides over 60 or 100 meters with spikes on. It’s very specific to the prep needed to begin speed training.[/b]
X Man
Let me know how I might be able to make the warm up process best for you and others to understand?
I am keen to do a video but I need help to do this.
As a coach, I’ve found that an athletes ability to really engage and appreciate the warm up hinges on whether they are a T&F athlete or not. In my experience, and this includes coaching/clinics all over the US and a few countries overseas, the track athletes are much more attentive and mindful of their movements and how they feel. In nearly all other sports that I’ve worked with it’s almost the opposite due to the culture of just going through the motions as most sport coaches only allot 6-10minutes for warm up prior to team activities.
So I’ve come up with a plethora of warm up schemes, similar to what others have posted here, for the non-track athlete population.
Also, short to long and long to short applies equally well to warm up strategies as it does to sprint training methodology as well as sport training methodology.
[b]I have long believed and learned that if team sport coaches and athletes apply aspects of track training to their sport it’s an advantage that people like Al and Dick Vermeil understood and utilized more than 25 years ago.
Even athletes of tennis and golf have benefited a great deal from a more individual and extensive warming up.[/b]
Agreed, the problem is that the culture of team sport coaching is significantly elementary and archaic. As I wrote in my book, T&F methodology is supremely applicable to the overall programming and organization of team sport preparation; however, this goes largely, if not entirely, unnoticed in that domain.
Asafa Powell today in Paris finishing warmup within 10 minutes of running 9.81 in 100m. (this is from the twitter for the Areva meet). I’ve learned that when copying the Jamaican warmup style, which uses stride-throughs rather than drills, doing precisely 1 block start is important (doesn’t seem to need more than 1 start and 3pt doesn’t work nearly as well), but I haven’t tried it within 10 min of a 100 meters. I’ll have to try this.
Ive always noticed when Im at a meet with pros, sometimes i see them barely warm up. IN clermont last year, I saw gatlin do 3 strides, laugh with dennis and creww, then jump on the track for a quick 10.00
I guess they let the therapist do the real warmup on them
It’s as Charlie always stated- the higher the output level the greater the heat that is generated via run throughs- and the less total activity is required for the sprinter to be ready to race
It’s as Charlie always stated- the higher the output level the greater the heat that is generated via run throughs- and the less total activity is required for the sprinter to be ready to race
This is the opposite to what has previously been stated in the warm ups outlined earlier in this thread, where the warm ups would take at least an hour. Confusing ??
What must be recognized is the difference between warming up for a race and preparing the body for a training session. In this way, regarding the latter, a variety of comprehensive activities may usefully be included prior to the main part of the training session. by association, much more than warming up is occurring;as a variety of valuable developmental adaptations will result via the performance of calisthenics, power speed, and so on.
while a race will, ideally, include both muscle contractile velocity as well a locomotive velocity in excess of anything occurring in training- the overall volume of work will be drastically less than any particular training session. In this way, warming up for a race poses a much more singular objective than what might logically be done before training.
ange, it would be great to see how you guys warmed-up and realtime would be great to see. I generally jog for 10mins then light stretches leading into leg swings etc to just keep moving and keep warm. then drills with more hip mobility stuff then strides gradually getting faster. after this im ready for the workout. warm-up time approx. 30-45mins depending on how im feeling and weather conditions etc.
Chris , it’s funny you mention that. I was at a meet in Nevada and ran against Jackie Joyner. After the race in which she broke the American record ( I ran terribly ) I asked Charlie what was up with her warm up. I said why I am doing all the things I always do and she was doing barely anything. It’s a very different level of performance and it’s not that she did not do anything it’s what came before in the years of work and prep and performance that enables different prep based on her level of fitness and performance. She would be able to maintain and reserve if you will her ability to perform while I might have a finite amount of time or readiness. I might be lucky to make it into the rounds a big comp while she might need the rounds to be at her very best. Certainly the difference between when i began and when I was running my best was significant but I never reached that level at the very top.