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.

Integrating corective exercise into team training

In the previous post I mentioned how important it is to address stiffness/shortness as well as combating the faulty postures that accompany sitting in class all day long. One of the things I have to take into account is that we have around 100 athletes on the team and most have similar issues including stiff hip flexors, poor internal hip rotation, and stiff pec minors.

Ideally, every athlete would wake up, go through their stretching and activation routine, and repeat after workout. Well, that just doesn't happen. Although many do take the time to address there tissue quality and work on flexibility issues, a majority just don't. The simple solution to this is forcing them to do it as part of the workout.

Day 1 UB
Explosive
Snatch- Dumbbell 1 Arm

w/

Sumo Squat to Stand

Horizontal Push
Bench Press
Horizontal Pull- tri set
Heavy 1 Arm Row
w/
Cable Lift (also serves as active hip flexor stretch)
w/
90/90 stretch

Post Work circuit x2
Includes corrective and specific strengthening exercises for players
Regeneration
will address more specific stretches specific to player/position

Really it is as easy as filling there "rest" periods with quality time to address flexibility/mobility issues. Is it going to have a direct influence on gaining outstanding flexibility...no. But it isn't just about gaining flexibility/mobility, but it will help prevent them from loosing it. Some players have gone through a full evaluation already and are addressing length issue head on with more long duration and EQI stretches and have made a great difference. Even if the total time of the stretches is only 1.5 minutes or so per area it will go a long way as opposed to them not dedicating any time at all. We also address mobility and soft tissue in the warm up which I have posted previously allowing us to cover all areas. This was they are hitting these areas at least 4X per week. This is a great way to not have guys just floating around between sets and many times guys are not disciplined enough to just sit around and stretch at the end of workouts. This takes care of it!