When participating in any sport it is vital we warm up, stretch and cool down.
The purpose of a warm-up is to get your body moving, begin raising your body temperature, stretch your muscles, move your joints, and get the energy pathways working so that the proper fuel is getting to your muscles. Warming up allows more oxygen to be carried to the working muscles. This will prepare the body for the activity to follow. This will also improve performance and reduce the risk of injury.
The warm up is a technique designed:
* To prepare the body for competition or conditioning exercise.
* To reduce the possibility of muscle injury or soreness
The warm up should include exercises that prepare the muscles to be used and activate the energy system required. The warm up should also be related specifically to the activity that follows. For instance, sit-ups or push-ups are not useful as a warm up for running 100 metres. Instead, jogging or run a through are the best preparation.
My warm up is to be specially designed for a 100m Sprint
There are three phases to a warm up
* Pulse Raiser
* Stretches
* Drills
A warm-up period will include the following basic sequence and components.
Activity
Purpose
Time (minimum)
Slow aerobic jog
Heat muscles
5 minutes
Stretching
Increase range of movement
0 minutes
Acceleration strides
Increase blood circulation and oxygen intake
2-3 minutes
Event specific drills
Coordination preparation for training/competition
0 minutes
Pulse Raiser
The aim of the pulse raiser is to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate by doing light physical activity. This increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. This also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch.
Jogging
Jogging slowly for 3-5 minutes is the first exercise of my routine. This circulates the blood through all the muscles, providing greater flexibility for stretching. My jog starts out slowly, and then gradually increases in speed to its completion; however, when I am jogging I never reach 50% of my maximum effort by the end of the jog, as the sole objective of this phase of the warm-up is circulating the blood.
Stretches
Stretching is one of the most critical parts of the Warm Up and of my performance. A more flexible muscle is a stronger and healthier muscle. A stronger and healthier muscle responds better to exercise and activities and helps prevent athlete injury. Before sprinting I stretch for up to 15minutes.
I stretch before sprinting to;
* Increase flexibility and freedom of movement
* Reduce muscle tension
* Reduce the risk of muscle and tendon injuries
Triceps stretch
Take the arm over your head, keeping your elbow as close to your ears as possible. Reach towards the mid section of your back, using the opposite hand to increase the stretch and support for the elbow
Hold this stretch for 8 - 10 seconds
Upper back stretch, performed in a standing position
Allow the palm of one hand to rest on the top of the opposite hand, slightly bend at the knee to reduce the pressure in the lower back. Reach as far forward as possible. (Avoid locking out the elbows) Feeling the stretch in the upper portion of the back
Hold this stretch for 8 - 15 seconds
Lumber
Lie on your back and bring your knees in close towards your chest. Grip below the knee joint to ...
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Hold this stretch for 8 - 10 seconds
Upper back stretch, performed in a standing position
Allow the palm of one hand to rest on the top of the opposite hand, slightly bend at the knee to reduce the pressure in the lower back. Reach as far forward as possible. (Avoid locking out the elbows) Feeling the stretch in the upper portion of the back
Hold this stretch for 8 - 15 seconds
Lumber
Lie on your back and bring your knees in close towards your chest. Grip below the knee joint to increase the stretch. (Avoid griping the joint of the knee)
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds
The lower back and waist
Lie on your back, bend your knees and take them over to one side.
Keep your shoulders on the floor if possible.
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds and repeat on the other Side
Advanced lower back and abductor or outer thigh stretch.
Lie on your back and straighten your legs. Bend one knee and take your leg over towards the opposite side of your body. Keep your shoulders on the floor if possible as this increases the stretch. Relax in this position.
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds and repeat on the opposite side
Hamstring
Performed in a supine position. Bend both knees and put the soles of your feet on the floor to begin.
Leaving one leg bent, straighten the other leg and hold either, behind the thigh or if you are flexible behind the calf. Ensure the flats of your feet remain in contact with the floor at all times
For that additional stretch gently push the flat of the foot out in front of you into the floor.
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds and repeat on the opposite side
Gluteal Stretch
Performed in a supine position. Lie flat out and bend your knees, placing the sole of your feet on the floor. Take leg (a) and place one foot on the knee of the opposite leg (b). Reach through the gap and around the outside of the leg (b), which is bent and on the floor, pull the leg in as far as, is comfortable. Feel the stretch in the buttocks of leg
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds
Gluteal stretch
Performed in a seated position. Sit upright with your legs stretched out in front of you. Bend one leg (a) and place it over the top of the straight leg (b). Put the sole of the foot of leg (a) on the floor and hug the knee towards the chest. Feel the stretch in the buttocks on the side of leg
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds
A quadriceps stretch- flat on the floor
Lie face down, with your body in a straight line. Bend one leg aiming to put your heel on your buttocks.
Take hold of the ankle and relax in this position. To increase the stretch push your hips into the floor
Hold this stretch for 15 - 30 seconds
A quadriceps stretch performed in a standing position
Ensure your supporting leg is slightly bent and use a wall for support if necessary. Bend your knee and take hold of the ankle of the leg, gently pull the ankle towards your buttocks. Keep your knees together and your head in line with your spine whilst performing this exercise.
Hold for 8 - 10 seconds
Chest stretch
Place your hands on your buttocks and draw your elbows towards each other at the rear, this will promote a stretch on the chest
A pre- exercise stretch, hold for 8 - 10 seconds
Gastrocnemius stretch
Lunge forward with leg (a) ensure that the knee is not over the floor, but kept in line with the ankle. Your head and spine should keep alignment and posture should be correct. Keep balanced and use a wall for support if necessary. Leg (b) should be stretched out at the rear and the heel of the foot flat on the floor. You should feel the stretch in the bulk of the calf muscle
Hold this stretch for 8 - 20 seconds
Inner thigh stretch
Performed in a seated position, bend your knees and draw the soles of your feet together. To increase the stretch gently push the knees towards the floor by using the elbows as weights
Hold for 15 - 30 seconds
Inner thigh stretch
Performed in a seated position, keep the torso up - right, head in line with the spine and your back in a natural arch. Pull the legs apart until you can feel a pull across the inner thigh. Increase the stretch by easing the body forward
Hold for 15 - 30 seconds
Skill Specific Warm Up
During this part of the warm up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions which will be required during the sporting event. Therefore I will carry out drills that are athletics related. These drills complement movements within the sprint and also will improve on my performance.
Sprinting Drills are designed to develop the mechanics, strength, and power needed to produce maximum performance in sprinting. They are designed for use while warming up before the workout. The length and difficulty of each drill can be altered to any desired distance and intensity.
Walking on Toes
This aims develop balance and strengthen the lower leg muscles (reduce shin splints)
Involves walking on the balls of the feet - free leg to be lifted so that the thigh is parallel with the ground, lower leg vertical and the toes dorsi flexed (this end position can be held for a second or two to develop balance and a feel of the free leg position)
Sprinting Lunges: This lunging drill is done alternating each leg and for about 30 meters. The proper arm action is demonstrated well in the first picture. That's where the arms should finish in each stride. In this drill we look for the back heel to pull through quickly, high under the hips. The back toes are also pulling forward quickly, not lifting up behind the hips. The runner should feel the arms working in conjunction with the legs. I should finish each stride with my back knee behind the hips and the lead foot under the lead knee.
Speed Stepping: In this drill I jog down the line of the track for about 50 meters and rapidly does one stride with good sprinting form or technique at a time. About every 4th stride is done rapidly. Work on the same leg, right or left, with each pass. Like the drills above, we look for the back heel and toes pulling through high under the hips and reaching out. Then, the foot snaps down making contact with the track under the hips.
Butt Kickers
From a jog, the lower leg is allowed to swing back and to bounce off the buttocks. The upper leg should not move much. Place emphasis on allowing (not Forcing) the heel to come up to the butt.
Wall Slide
From a jog, the action is the same as for butt kickers except that the heel of the recovery leg must not travel behind the body. Imagining that there is a wall of glass running down the back, and do not allow the heel action to break the glass. This action will produce knee lift without forcing the action. As in butt kickers, when this drill is done properly, the heel will bounce off the butt.
High Knee Drill
In a quick foot ladder, I sprint through the ladder as fast as possible, touching one foot in each rung of the ladder. Emphasize high knee lift and quick ground contact. One time through the ladder is one set.
Down And Offs
From a high knee position, the emphasis is to decrease your foot/ground contact by hitting the ground with the ball of the foot and getting it off as fast as possible. In turn, the effort on the ground should bounce your leg up into the high knee position. Ten down and offs make one set.
Pull Through
Extending the leg in front of the body (like a hurdler); the leg is then brought down and through the ground contact in a power motion. Ten pull-throughs with each leg make one set.
Run outs
This aims to develop a tall, relaxed and smooth sprint action over 40 metres of six repetitions.
Action - tip start and gradually build up of speed over the 40m - first two reps focus on a tall action, next two on tall and relaxed and the last two on tall, relaxed and smooth Aims - to develop the elbow drive
Amount - three repetitions over 100 metres (60m effort + 40m run out)
Action - tip start and over the first 30m gradually build up the speed and a tall, relaxed and smooth action - at 30m gradually add elbow drive to reach full sprint speed at 50m - maintain the tall, relaxed, smooth and drive action to 60m - sprinting through the 60m point is essential - gradually slow down over the last 40m
Quick Feet Drill
From a jog, I increase my stride rate so that I take as many steps as possible in a 10-yard interval. Jog 10 yards and repeat. Emphasizing with a quick turnover with the legs moving in front of, not behind or under, the body.
Acceleration Strides
Acceleration strides increase the my blood circulation and oxygen intake, improve the athlete's running technique, and heighten my level of physical fitness. Acceleration strides start out slowly, and increase in speed gradually, yet forcefully. Each successive stride increases in speed so that by the final run, I only perform at about 80 percent effort. Runs should be about 50M long, where I jog/walk back to the starting line. My main focus is concentrating on good running technique during these strides.
Vascular Affects Of a Warm Up
Warming up prior to any physical activity does a number of beneficial things, but primarily its main purpose is to prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity.
One of the ways it achieves this is by:
Gradual increase in blood flow due to the vascular shunt mechanism via:
-Vasoconstriction of arterioles/precapillary sphincters to organs decreasing blood flow to organs and therefore increasing blood flow to the working muscles.
-Vasodilatation of muscles arterioles/precapillary sphincters increasing blood flow delivery to working muscles.
Increased body/muscle temperature causing amore rapid increase in transport of the enzyme required for energy systems and muscle contraction.
Increase in body/muscle temperature which:
-Decreases blood viscosity, improving blood flow to working muscles
-Increase the dissociation of oxygen from haemoglobin on the muscle tissues.
Decrease in the onset of blood lactic acid due to the early onset of anaerobic work when a warm up is not carried out.
An effective warm up also has the effect of increasing both your heart rate and your respiratory rate. This increases blood flow, which in turn increases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. All this helps to prepare the muscles, tendons and joints for more strenuous activity.
The benefits of my warm up
My performance may be improved as an appropriate warm up will result in an:
* Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles
* Dynamic exercises reduce muscle stiffness
* Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles
* Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because haemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures
* Facilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity
* Increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures
Reference:
http://www.activeaims.biz/Stretches-of-Ruth1 (used for stretching images)
As Physical Education
Nadine Okyere Personal Warm-up C Manby