Why you Should Warm Up?
When you are warming up you are preparing yourself to compete in your sport. Your heart rate will increase, as well as your blood pressure and blood flow to your muscles. If you do not engage in a proper warm up then you are more likely to sustain injuries and have increased soreness in your muscles later on. Warm ups are also a good opportunity to engage in mental focus. During this time you can get your head in the game and get ready mentally as well as physically before the game.
Dynamic Vs. Static Warm ups:
Dynamic = movement through many positions
Dynamic warmups involve increasing your heart rate. It is also involves moving with stretching. When doing a dynamic warmup you might do exercises like high knees, butt kicks, open the gate/close the gate, cone drills, high knees, and many more. A dynamic warmup usually lates about 20 minutes.
Static = one position
A static warmup involves standing up or sitting on the ground in one position and holding that stretch for a prolonged time. During a static warmup you might do stretches like seated hamstring stretch, butterfly stretch, child’s pose, pretzel stretch, straddle stretch, hip flexor stretches and many more. This is still a popular warm up for teams, even though current research favors dynamic warm ups.
Dynamic warm ups are best to complete before physical activity. Static warm ups are still good to complete after physical activity when your muscles are still warm. You want to make sure you stretch out your muscles before they have time to cool down. You can also pair dynamic and static warm ups together by doing a combination of both before physical activity.
Is there a difference between pre-game and pre-practice warm ups?
No, both times you should be doing dynamic warm ups. When you are practicing you are getting your body and muscles ready for game time. Also you should be playing just as hard in practice as you are in a game so you should be to preparing
your body correctly both times.
It is also important to add in some strength training into your practice warm up. However you should not be doing a strength training warm up before a game. During practice you are working your body and getting it ready for game time, and that might include extra workouts to help get your body ready for game time. You do not need the extra workouts before a game, that would be counter productive.
Should I warm up at half time?
Yes, you will need to warm up again at half time. Your muscle temperature will decrease at half time and that correlates to a lower sprint capacity at the start of the second half. If you complete somehow-level activities before the start of the second half then you can keep your muscles warm and maintain the same sprint performance you had during the first half.
Part of half time should be about recovery. You want to use this time to listen to your coach, replenish your body with water, and rest/ recover. The other part of half time should consist of an abbreviated warm up to get your heart rate up and blood flowing before the game resumes. You do not need to repeat the same warm up that you did pre-game, but you will want to do things like a fast paced jog, hip in, hip out, forward/ backward sprints, etc.
It is also important to do a small warm up if you have been waiting to get in the game so body and muscles aren’t going in cold. If you have been sitting and waiting to go into the game for a long period of time from the initial warm up, or since you were last in, then you will want to prepare your muscles and body before re-entering the game. Like the half time warm up, you want to do some fast paced and quick movements to get your body moving. No need to engage in a 20 minute warmup like you may have dome before the game.
