Warm up Protocols to Enhance Performance and Decrease Injury Jacob Kotlicky Coordinator of Memorial Sports Center’s Return to Sport Program

Stretching  Stretching by definition = the act of performing a particular exercise to improve joint range of motion. European college of sports sciences  Static Stretching: is when a body part is taken to a point of mild discomfort and held for an amount of time.  Dynamic Stretching/Movements: movements that maximize active range of motion and elevate core body temperature. Journal of Strength and Conditioning 2005

What’s our goal as coaches and healthcare professionals?  Improve Performance  Enhance motor unit excitability / become more explosive  Active lengthening of muscles / eccentric loading  Increase body temperature  Increase heart rate  Warm up the body for the activity  Light sweat  Improve Kinesthetic Awareness / Coordination  Awareness of the body in space  Prevent Injuries  Increase flexibility  Introduce multiple planes of motion / sport specific movements  All the above

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 2005  60 Children (27 girls and 33 boys)  Separated them into 2 groups A, B  Group A performed 5 minutes of walking followed by 5 minutes of static stretching held for 15 sec  Group B performed 10 minutes of dynamic exercises from a moderate to high intensity  Tested on power, speed, and agility via the vertical jump, standing long hump, and shuttle run

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Results Group A vs. Group B  Vertical jump decreased by 6.5%  Long Jump decreased by 1.9%  Shuttle run decreased by 2.6%  In terms of cardiovascular demand, group B’s average HR was 150 b.min vs. group A’s 109 b.min

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 2008  24 Division one wrestlers were randomly assigned to complete a 4 week Dynamic or Static warm up routine prior to their preseason practices  11 performed the static warm up  13 performed the dynamic warm up  They were tested on med ball underhand throw, 300 yard shuttle, pull ups, push ups, sit ups, broad jump, 600 m run, sit to stand reach, trunk extension, quad and hamstring peak torque tests.

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Results Dynamic Group  Increase in quadriceps peak torque by 11%  Increase in broad jump by 4%  Increase in underhand med ball throw by 4%  Increase in sit ups by 11%  Increase in push ups by 3%  Static group posted no improvements to tests performed.

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 2006  United States military academy took 30 cadets to do a study on static vs. dynamic warm up routines to see which one would better prepare their cadets for power and agility activities  Tested on the 5 step jump to determine functional leg power  Medicine ball throw was chosen to measure total body power  T-drill was chosen to measure agility

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching?  For 3 days one group of cadets performed static stretches for 10 minutes prior to data collection  Other group performed dynamic stretches for 10 minutes  All routines were done at 6AM each day  There was a 2 minute period between finishing the warm up and beginning the performance test

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Results  T –drill static warm up = 9.69 sec vs. dynamic’s 9.56 sec  Medicine ball throw = 9.34 meters with static vs meters with dynamic  5 step jump = 9.78 meters with static vs meters with dynamic  For task requiring power and agility, the results suggest that dynamic warm up will offer performance benefits not found with static warm ups.

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching? Study from the Journal of the North American Society of Pediatric Exercise Medicine, 2003  Study – effect of static and dynamic stretching exercises on speed during vaulting in gymnastics  11 boys performed 3 protocols  Regular warm up  Warm up with static stretching  Warm up with dynamic stretching

Pre –competition…. Static or Dynamic Stretching?  Their analysis revealed that gymnasts mean speed significantly decreased after the static stretching protocol Now what?

Times have Changed!! Which one would you rather use these days?

Thank You! Jacob Kotlicky Memorial Sports Center’s Return to Sport Program E mail: