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Warm up

Based on work by Nick Tumminello, Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove & Ian King

8 key points

1. Keep them general – utilise basic movement patterns

2. Easy transitions – fluidity from one move to another

3. Each movement should have a purpose – don’t just do anything

4. Each movement should be simple & not too fatiguing

5. Some focus on unilateral movement – asymmetries are a sure way to achieve injury, work

more on the weak side

6. Use to assess yourself – if you have problems during the warm-up, these can be clue about

things that need to be addressed

7. Be progressive – don’t fear regressing when you need to, but generally the idea is for even

the warm-up to remain slightly challenging

8. Doing warm-ups daily can be a good idea as the coach Dan John has said “If it’s important do

it every day”.

Muscle activation

The progressions below give you several options. Start with 1 & work up to the highest number as

you improve. If you can’t do the more advanced version don’t worry just stick at the level you can

achieve. Do be afraid to regress as well as progress as you need to as even easier versions offer

great benefits. Finally, remember this isn’t a contest, do not rush to achieve a sloppy version of the

hardest version. Any version that is challenging will give you benefits. Doing a sloppy harder version

will NOT do as much as a tight easier version.

Dead bug

1/ Supine, arms out to the side, knees at 90 degrees, feet touching the floor. Draw in the tummy &

keep the spine neural. Lift one knee until the lower leg is parallel to the floor, lower the leg, then

raise the other. The aim is to keep the spine stable & unmoving through the movement.

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2/ Supine, arms out to the side, knees at 90 degrees, lower leg parallel to the floor. Keeping the

knee at 90 degrees lower one leg until the foot touches the floor. Raise & then lower the other leg.

The aim is to keep the spine stable & unmoving through the movement.

3/ Supine, arms out to the side, knees at 90 degrees, lower leg parallel to the floor. Straighten one

leg out so that it is nearly locked out & parallel to the floor, raise & repeat with the other leg. Again

keeping the spine neutral is the goal.

4/ The true ‘deadbug’ position. Supine, arms reaching towards the sky, knees bent at 90 degrees,

lower leg parallel to the floor. Stretch out one leg & the arm on the same side so they are both

nearly parallel to the floor. Raise & repeat on the other side. Keep the spine neural.

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Glute Bridge

1/ Supine, arms out to the sides, knees at 90 degrees with feet on the floor. Raise the glutes off the

floor so you get a straight line between the armpit, hip & knee, lower & repeat.

2/ Supine, arms out to the side, both knees at 90 degrees, one foot on the floor, the other leg raised

so lower leg is about parallel to the floor. As this is raising yourself with one foot, it also works the

anti-rotators. Repeat with the legs reversed. Hint: You can lodge a tennis ball lodged in the crease

between your leg & pelvis (see photo)

3/ Supine, arms out to the side, one knee at 90 degrees, the other out straight, one foot on the floor.

Raise the glute off the floor. Ideally from the armpit to the lower leg should be in a straight line.

Keep the hips level with the floor (don’t allow them to twist).

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Table

1/ Start in a seated position, hands on the floor, slightly behind back, knees at 90 degrees, shoulder

blades back & down raise chest, now relax chest & shoulder blades, repeat.

2/ Start in a seated position, hands on the floor, slightly behind back, knees at 90 degrees, shoulder

blades back & down raise chest, now lift your hips off the floor & try to create a ‘table’ with your

body, lower your hips to the floor, relax chest & shoulder blades, repeat.

3/ Start in a seated position, hands on the floor, slightly behind back, knees at 45 degrees, shoulder

blades back & down raise chest, now lift your hips off the floor & try to create a ‘table’ with your

body, lower your hips to the floor, relax chest & shoulder blades, repeat.

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Plank

In all of these the head, upper back & glutes should be in a straight line. There can be a little

deviation in the legs. The easiest way to check your position is to get someone to check you with a

light stick (as shown)

1/ Get in the push-up position. Simply hold for time (work up to 90 seconds).

2/ Get into the push-up position with feet slightly further apart. Raise one arm, hold, then lower,

repeat with the other arm. As you get better move legs closer together.

Bar test for plank

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3/ Get into the push-up position. Raise one leg & the opposite arm. Lower then raise the other leg

& arm.

Hip adduction

Lower back must stay stable. Do not allow the hip to roll.

1/ Lay on your side, with knees about 90 degrees, feet on top of each other. Lift one knee up then

holding that steady raise the lower leg to meet it. Focus on there being zero back involvement & no

hip rolling

2/ Lay on your side, put the lower leg out straight & the upper leg crossing so the foot is on the floor.

Raise the lower leg while keeping your toes dorsiflexed. Again keep your attention on back stability.

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3/ Lay on your side with both legs out straight. Raise one straight leg up, then holding that leg still

raise the other leg to touch it.

Side bridge

1/ Lay on your side with your upper body resting on your elbow. Raise your body forward & up to

lift the body so that you form a straight line from your shoulder to your feet, hold for time. Turn

over & repeat on the other side. Aim at 60 seconds per side.

2/ Lay on your side with your upper body resting on your elbow. Raise your body forward & up to

lift the body so that you form a straight line from your shoulder to your feet, lift your upper arm so it

points skywards & hold for time. Turn over & repeat on the other side. Aim at 60 seconds per side.

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3/ Lay on your side with your upper body resting on your elbow. Raise your body forward & up to

lift the body so that you form a straight line from your shoulder to your feet. Lift your upper leg &

hold for time. Turn over & repeat on the other side. Aim at 60 seconds per side.

Shoulder activation

1/ Lay face down with the elbows at around 90 degrees & the hands nearly touching above the head

(called a ‘Y’). Depress the shoulders, squeeze the shoulder blades together & raise the arms towards

the sky. Make sure you do not use the lower back or the upper traps, this should be mainly the

muscles between the scapulae (shoulder blades) doing the work.

Next you move to a ‘T’. This is done by lying face down with shoulders & elbows both a 90 degrees.

Depress the shoulders, squeeze the shoulder blades together & raise the arms towards the sky. The

elbows should be level with each other. Make sure you do not use the lower back or the upper

traps, this should be mainly the muscles between the scapulae (shoulder blades) doing the work.

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Finally in this progression we move onto a ‘W’. Continuing to lie face down, pull the elbows down

the body until they form a ‘W’ shape with the body. Depress the shoulders, squeeze the shoulder

blades together & raise the arms towards the sky. Make sure you do not use the lower back or the

upper traps, this should be mainly the muscles between the scapulae (shoulder blades) doing the

work.

‘Y’

‘T’

Handcuffs

2/ To progress you do similar but with a straight arm & thumbs up for the ‘Y’ & ‘T’ exercises, but

swap the ‘W’ with the ‘handcuff’ exercise - put both hands palm up one on top the other on the

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lower back while lying face down. Now try to raise the hands off of the back. Again think shoulders

down & back first then lift.

3/ The third progression in this series should be done in the classic ‘athletic stance’. Again thumbs

up for the ‘Y’ & ‘T’ & for all of them think depress the shoulders, then squeeze together the

scapulae.

Hip circuit

1/ Go to a quadruped position (on hands & knees). Keeping the leg fixed at the knee, do gentle

circles using the hips. It is easy to use the lower back to compensate & increase the range of motion,

monitor the back. It should stay fixed. Reverse direction of the rotation. Lower the leg & repeat on

the other leg.

Fire hydrants are the next move. Start in quadruped position & raise the knee (like a dog weeing on

a lamp post). Be aware that only the hip should move. You can raise much higher by incorporating

lower back movement, but that is not the goal of this exercise. Insure the back remains flat.

‘Y’ Handcuffs ‘T’

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2/ Will be done with the inclusion of a straight leg on the moves. So the rotations are done by first

lifting the arm that is on the opposite side to the working leg & putting it on the opposite shoulder,

then including leg extension during the rotation as shown in the pictures. With the fire hydrant both

arms are down & the leg is stretched out to the side.

3/ When you can easily do progression 2 you move onto standing & first off start with feet

comfortably apart & hands behind head (prisoner position). Lift one leg & do in to out circles, then

out to in circles.

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Next move to the athletic stance with the hands in the handcuff position. From there reach out with

one toes & without actually touching the floor pull back, again keeping the toes just off the floor.

You can touch lightly if you need balance. Remember stability of the lower back is the main goal, if

you’re wobbling all over the place then you’re not ready for this progression.

BONUS

Band work

As I haven’t got enough bands for everyone, here’s just a taster of a really useful move with the

bands.

1/ Tie the bands (or use mini bands) stand in an upright position with your legs about shoulder width

(there should be tension on the bands). Allow one leg to ‘cave in’. The idea is to be feel what it’s like

to correct faulty knee function.

2/ X band walk. Tight the bands (or use mini bands) stand in an upright position with your legs about

shoulder width (there should be tension on the bands). Walk sideways or do a box step.