CHANCES ARE YOUR WARM UP, ISN’T A WARM UP!

Congratulations you clicked on to read my blog post (If you can even call it that). Unfortunately I won’t be telling you all about my running story, I thought about it, but to be honest it’s nowhere near as inspiring as some of the few I have already read on this page. Seriously though you guys rock!!!

Before I dive into why everything you know about warm ups is probably wrong, I should maybe tell you why I have the nerve to say this (or attempt to say this).

Growing up I was always into studying and sports, but it wasn’t until I was 15 I knew it was what I wanted to study. I left home when I was 17 and moved across Scotland to live in Glasgow. Fast forward to just now, and sitting here at my kitchen table I hold a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science (soon to be BSc (Hons) just one gnarly dissertation to go), PT qualification, BASI Ski Instructor and many GFI qualifications. In the last 3 years, I have worked incredibly hard to not only stay on top of my game at university, but to also be up to date with all the changes in the fitness industry.

Which leads me to this blog, warm-ups are one of those things you always roll your eyes at. No matter how old you are.

I hated (with a passion) PE warm-ups. Not sure about you, but for me it meant a lap of the rugby pitch. Now considering I live in Scotland, where it rains 95% of the time, the lap basically turned into the ‘mud mile’ from Tough Mudder. Only thing worse than PE warm ups, were the ballet ones. There’s nothing appealing about stripping down to a leotard and tights in a freezing cold hall- especially in winter.

Thing is do we need to do warm ups?

Why do we need the hassle involved with them?

Surely we can live without them?

ANSWER?

NO!!

And I know you are all just bursting with excitement to find out why, buuuuttttt…

If you find that you can’t wait that long, or just can’t be bothered reading to the end. I will sum it up nicely for you

Warm ups are important

They reduce injury prevention blah blah blah

For those of you planning to stick around a little while longer. Well done!! Well done for making it this far. (Because I have never written a blog post before and have no clue what I am doing ).

Importance of Warm ups :

You’ve probably heard that you need to do a warm up to prevent injury. Now whilst this isn’t wrong, it’s also not the whole truth, and just like the technology world the sports science world is rapidly evolving.

There’s so much more behind the phrase 'warm up’. Unknown to many the warm up can actually enhance your performance by 15-20%. So next time you think of skipping it, think again. Warm ups a designed to prepare you mentally and physically for your main task/challenge, they are also a great way of improving techniques and focusing on the smaller details in your performance.

Take running for example, you can use the warm up to focus on your stride pattern and length as well as change your foot position to a more neutral and natural one.

Key aim is to positively affect your performance!

RAMP WARM UPS :

Time to get serious! (Just kidding it’s not that serious) Well maybe…

A RAMP warm up is basically the gold standard of warm ups, it’s like the Morgan Freeman of the acting world (only if you like his acting, if not insert any other actor where his name is). It is designed to look beyond a generic warm up in order to optimise (look posh word) performance.

Each section of a warm up is just as important as the one before or after it, therefore the RAMP protocol is made up of four sections

R- RAISE

A- ACTIVATE

M-MOBILISE

P-POTENTIATE

PHASE 1- RAISE

The aim of the 'raise' phase is to focus on the key physiological parameters e.g. increase the body temperature, blood flow, heart rate and joint viscosity. Using the RAMP protocol allows the warm-up activities to be carefully targeted to the

specific training goals

The ‘raise’ phase, uses three categories that fit together to form ‘movement development’.

Initiation (start or change of direction),

Actualisation (maximise movement speed)

Transition (perform a skill).

By combining the three phases in different patterns the level of both physiological and cognitive challenges can be adapted depending on the athletes level of capabilities.

The RAMP system specifically allows the process to be extended past a sports scenario into a gym based.

PHASE 2 & 3- ACTIVATE AND MOBILISE

Following on from the main aspects of the 'raise' phase, the activation and mobilisation phases are designed to build upon the temperature related aspects of phase 1, to ensure the benefits are not lost.

Best way to understand the 'activation' phase is to think of it in place of the 'stretching' phase in a traditional warm-up, however it's vital to note they have very different aims. Contrary to popular belief, latest studies have shown that there is very little evidence linking injury prevention and stretching.

Featured exercises in this phase include:

• Balance testing patterns

• Inchworms

• Squats/ lunges

• Spinal mobility

• Resistance band patterns

PHASE 4- POTENTIATE

Subconsciously this phase has always been included in a warm-up. Think of the 'potentiation' phase as a prep- set e.g. a sprinter will build up to the main set the same way in which a power lifter will progressively build up to a 1 rep max. The reasoning for this is due to the previous phases not providing enough explosive power or force to mimic a 'performance'.

Featured exercises in this phase include:

· Plyometric training

· Unilateral and Bilateral jumps and bounds

· Reactive drills

· Short distance acceleration (sprints)

WHAT NOW?!

Chances are some of you are already including some of these phases into your warm up. Those of you who don’t do a warm up, well then I suggest you try it out. Remember that percentage difference I said a the beginning (Don’t worry it’s not a quiz),

“WARM UP CAN ACTUALLY ENHANCE YOUR PERFORMANCE BY 15-20%”

If you are happy staying at the same level in your performance, then that’s fine. Well not fine, but hey I can’t force you to do anything. But if you want to improve your performance, then add one in.

“But Ailsa, I don’t have time to do all of that”

Yes that may be true, but in order to change and improve in life we have to make space for the things we hate the most. So if that means one less episode of Grey’s Anatomy in order to fit a proper warm up in, then needs must. Just know that there is no true magic potion that will make it happen.

When it comes down to it, your warm up is the start of your session. How much effort you put into it will determine how well the rest of your session is going to go.

So if you go into it with a negative mind frame, you will probably have a terrible session, maybe even give up half way through. Where as if you take a step back, clear your head and go into it wanting something out of it. Then well you might just come out of it with a new PB!

Ailsa

P.s Serious kudos to you if you made it to the end of that, I know it’s probably not what you are used to when reading a blog

P.S. If you want some free stuff, yup I said FREEEEE! You can download a copy of my mini eBook about warm ups from my complete guide eBook series. It talks about warm ups in a little more depth and has 11 pre-made warm ups to follow and blank cards for you to create your own. Click Here