Track and Field Techniques: Developing Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs

Presented by Ben Blackmer King’s High School

Overview of Warm-Ups Purpose

•Prepares body for activity •Set tone of practice (focused vs. fun) •Warm-ups part of the practice •Team building •Basic athleticism like: coordination, mobility, flexibility, conditioning •HS kids feel invincible, pay the price with soreness, tightness, injury, etc. •Many ways to accomplish the same goal

Overview of Warm-Ups General vs. Specific Warm-Ups

•General is basic physical preparation: all events and activities (Sprints, jumps, throws, distance, weights, plyoss, cross training, etc.)

•Specific preparation is for one type of activity or event (E.g. shoulder circles, towel pull-throughs and standing throws for javelin)

Overview of Warm-Ups Time Length

•Just enough to get the job done •Too short • Bear in the woods theory •Too long • Warm-up is a workout itself • Need a warm-up to warm-up!

Overview of Warm-Ups Adaptability

•Adapt based on location, weather, equipment, etc. • Indoor vs. outdoor • Wet vs. dry • Cold vs. hot • Spacious vs. cramped • Equipment vs. none

•Take caution with rigid set routines

Components of a Warm-Up General Activity

•Increases core body temp •Lubricates joints •Examples: jog forward/back, skip forward/back, laterals, snaking •Skipping = vibration •Nothing wrong with jogging for 5-10 minutes (Runners need to run!) •“Slow cook the goose moist to the bone”

Components of a Warm-Up Stretching Static stretching, 20-30 second holds for major muscle groups Why we went back to static stretching during warm-ups: 1. Forces kids to stretch, every injured athlete is told they are inflexible and need to stretch 2. At big meets athletes resort to static stretching 3. Any power reduction regained through dynamic activities 4. Spot check for tightness 5. Martial artists and ballerinas stretch a lot 6. Older stretching studies didn’t test athletes 7. World class track coaches still prescribe static stretching

Components of a Warm-Up Stretching Dynamic stretching and movements • Moving through wide ROM • Progress slow to fast, controlled • High speeds excites nervous system • Hurdle over/unders • One hurdle or set of 10+ • Eg: Fwd over, lat over, backwd over, fwd under, lat under • Various multi-plane movements • Eg: Arm circles, leg swings, wrist circles, ankle mobility, lunging, squatting, bending, twisting

Components of a Warm-Up Running Drills • Both a dynamic stretch and specific movement for running • Improves ROM, stretches posterior chain, teaches body control and posture, exposes bilateral imbalance • No correlation with running faster • Perfect slow speeds then speed up • Drills flowing into accel (20 meter “A” skip then 15 meter accel) • Example 2x30 meters each: “A” march, “B” march, butt kicks, high knees, “A” skip, “B” skip

Components of a Warm-Up Specific Activity • Event specific movement or rehearsal Sprints: Build-ups/accelerations Jumps: Build-ups/accels, then approach jumps Vault: Build-ups/accels, then vault approach drills Hurdles: Build-ups/accels, then hurdle drills Distance: Build-ups/accels if doing fast interval work Throws: Throwing drill, may do short accelerations Javelin: Build-ups/accels, then specific javelin drills

Sample Warm-Ups See Appendix

Warm-Up Considerations Multiple Warm-Ups • Different warm-ups for different days • Easy = easy days, dynamic = high intensity days • 5 different warm-ups per week? • Types of warm-ups: • Long -> exciting, long relaxed, short dynamic, short and easy • We use two, one more dynamic and one less dynamic

Warm-Up Considerations Track Meets • Team warm-up or individual? • We let the athletes choose, security when nervous • Stay with familiar, both physical and psych • Warming-up multiple times per meet • 20 min. or 2 hrs. between? Weather? Type of previous event? • Feeling better during second event clues may not have prepared • Vary warm-up based on athlete composure • Wired and edgy = slow building warm-up • “Dead” or flat = short and very dynamic warm-up

Cold-Downs Purpose • Often neglected by coaches and athletes • Physical and mental unwind • Prepares body for the next workout!

Components • General activity in a descending manner • Remedial and preventative work • Shin exercises, rotator cuff, medial gluteals, barefoot walks

Cold-Downs Stretching • Static stretching re-lengthens muscle • Shotgun vs. prescribed by event or athlete • Nightly homework

Therapy If Needed • Icing, ice baths, contrast showers, foam roll