Lecture 10 - Warm-Up, Mobility, Flexibility

Purpose of warmups

mental and physical readiness, injury prevention, performance enhancement

Warm Up Effects on Performance

• increases muscle and core temp

• increases muscle blood flow

• elevates baseline oxygen consumption (allows you to rely more on aerobic respiration at higher intensities)

• enhances neural function

Allows For:

• faster contraction and relaxation of agonist and antagonist muscles

• improve rate of force development and reaction time

• improve muscle strength and power

• increased psychological preparedness for performance

Components: RAMP

Raise

Activate

Mobilize

Potentiate

Raise

Aims to increase body temp, heart rate, respiration rate, blood flow, joint viscosity, and increase skill level by stimulating and developing the movement pattern required for sport

Activate

Aims to activate key muscle groups (using key muscle groups) and mobilize key joints and sport-specific range of motion

**can also include athlete-specific prehab

Flexibility

range of motion around a joint

Mobility

range of motion with control, coordination, and ability to produce force

**more important than flexibility in warm up

Dynamic Stretching

active movement through ROM

• movements can be in place or over a distance

• start slow and gradually increase ROM

• promotes dynamic flexibility and ability to replicate movement patterns required for sport activity

• do BEFORE workout

Potentiate

Aims to prime athletes for a session

• increase the level of intensity closer to that of session

• uses sport specific drills/most sport specific phase of stretching

  • ex: short sprints, reactive agility drills

Static Stretching

slow and constant with end position held for a duration of time

improves ROM

do AFTER workout

Ballistic Stretching

involves active muscle effort and uses a bouncing movement, end position not held

• (ex: leg swings)

potential for injury

can enhance ROM but not optimal

uses momentum

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

use of isometric and concentric muscle actions in stretched muscle to achieve greater ROM

do AFTER workout

How to Improve ROM

2x per week

15-30s per stretch

hold stretch at position of “mild discomfort”

stretch after practice or as a separate “recovery” session

Effects of static stretching

• decreases speed, power, and endurance in performance

  • effects last up to an hour

Why does static stretching negatively impact performance?

• has a short term impact on neural reflexes (muscle spindles)

• has a longer impact on musculotendinous unit deformation

• less muscle/tendon recoil = less elastic energy = decreased performance

  • think of stretching a slingy toy and when you let go it stays stretched out, thats what static stretching does to your muscles

Foam Rolling

• potential form of myofascial tissue release

  • no real evidence that it improves performance but seems to not negatively impact performance

    • improves ROM and local blood flow

• many people use it to replace static stretching prior to exercise

• effects on flexibility last about 10 minutes

• may preserve performance in a fatigued state

• may reduce the sensation of muscle soreness (DOMS) but little is known about the influence on the speed of recovery

How to foam roll to improve flexibility

3-5 sets of 20-30s repetitions of slowly moving over the tight muscle

3-5x per week to retain long term