When I was in high school, my cross country team thought that a simple hamstring stretch, calf stretch, and a 1/4mi jog was a proper warm up. This was the knowledge passed down by our coach and our fathers from their generation.
Since the 90’s we have come a long way! There have been many studies performed in sports science to examine the best practices for injury prevention and performance. These studies showed us that static stretching doesn’t help injury prevention and the world of “warming up” for your sport was turned on its head.
Today we know that the best practices for injury prevention and performance involve a few basic principles.
Get blood flowing and heart rate up slowly
Take muscles that you are going to use in your sport through their range of motion repetitiously to prepare for sport.
Take joints that you’re going to use through their range of motion repetitiously to prepare them for sport.
Activate muscles that are vital to you performing that sport/exercise pain-free.
When we put all these together there are a few considerations. As always, a routine that is designed for you and takes into account your injury history, your sport or activity, and your problem areas is always going to be better for you than a general warm up. At our Boulder office, we can create a customized recovery plan for you, including a proper functional dynamic warm up.
For example, If you have a history of surgery you may need to adjust your warm up to avoid irritating that area or adding more time to warm up that area. If you are actively dealing with IT band syndrome then you might add in a few more glute activation exercises and add in a bit of foam rolling on the front of your hip before exercising.
In our Boulder Sports Chiropractic and Physical Therapy office, we see runners, hikers, cyclists, etc who are dealing with injuries such as Iliotibial (IT) band pain, plantar fasciitis, hamstring strain, lower back and hip pain, knee pain when running, shin splints, or ankle and foot pain with exercise that we fix with modalities like Active Release Technique (ART), dry needling, deep tissue muscle work, joint mobilization, and physical therapy strengthening.
A big component we work on with our patients is appropriate warm up for sport. This typically involves foam rolling, activation exercises, and a dynamic warm up that is specific for their injury.
In this video we have created a functional general dynamic run warm-up that will take the main muscles and joints involved in running through their range of motion while activating a few muscles along the way.
If you are dealing with injury in Boulder, schedule an appointment by calling or emailing us today. We have a team of Boulder chiropractors, boulder physical therapists, and boulder massage therapists to help guide you back to 100% ASAP.