Moving better, Playing better.

Since implementing our warm up with the team, noticeable movement patterns have definitely exposed for need of some cleaning up. There are several key exercises that we implement in pre work and warm up to help shore up these patterns which will hopefully rid of us of dysfunctional movement.

In line-Lunge














This is great for identifying functional mobility of forward leg (hip flexion, ankle dorsiflexion). The dynamic stability can be identified in observing control of movement, knee stability, and there is a good balance component which will require adequate frontal plane stability.

Overhead Squat with Pause in hole














This is part of out "stick" warm up which we perform once per week. Basically, we do a series of movements with dowels after our rolling, hurdle mobility, and some other stretches/movement drills. The OHS gives me a great indicator on progress throughout the off season on several factors. From the bottom up your able to identify dorsiflexion, Foot position, hip ROM, Low back arch compared to thoracic, shoulder ROM, and whether the bear the load on one leg or the other. WOW, what a long list! But, you can expect that as this improves, it will indicate that a lot of mobility issues have panned out.

Standing Psoas March


















Cleaning up hip flexion will have a strong influence on avoiding many major compensation patterns. You may see TFL taking over via cramp, forward spinal flexion from overall weakness, and, using momentum generated from quad to achieve desired ROM. This can lead to low back pain and even quad strain/pull. A key point is making sure they are in perfect posture and cue the right muscles (stomach, psoas) in order to get the activation necessary.

These are 3 examples of exercises we use in some of our warm ups in order to not just prepare them for lifting or running, but to get them moving better in all aspects of function. It is holistic way of looking at improvement. If your athletes are feeling better throughout the day, the subjective readiness will be that much higher before even starting warm ups.