Are You Loose? Warm Up with B.A.S.E.S

How do the world's best athletes achieve such a high level of performance?  Well, as I once heard one of our great pioneers in Strength and Conditioning for baseball, Houston Astros Strength and Conditioning Coach, Gene Coleman say, "If you are one of the lucky ones, thank your parents!"  Whether or not you inherit the natural talent and athleticism to play baseball at the highest levels, the first step toward achieving world class performance is to practice consistently and practice hard.  The second step is to develop a progressive, athletic conditioning routine using movements specific to the sport. 

Building a strong base is the most essential aspect of athletic performance enhancement.  Improving balance, coordination, and reaction time should be the primary focus in pre-game preparation and improved athleticism.  As a coach or parent, a simple and short on-field warm up routine for younger athletes can be enough to strengthen and prepare the body to prevent injury and improve performance.  For all athletes, regardless of age or experience level, consistency will create the readiness your body needs to compete at its highest potential day in and day out.  This is both a mental and physical approach toward improved game-time performance.

Use the following structure to your routine prior to practice, a game, and/or conditioning, in the given order, prior to your game or your outing.  Younger athletes will not need a long time to warm up but their bodies need to warm up too!

1. Light Jog – minimum 1 minute

• Forces body's temperature to rise
• Increases blood flow to muscles

2. Foam Roller  (optional) – minimum 10 reps/seconds per muscle group

• Large muscle groups, especially lower body
• Releases fascia that surrounds the muscle
• Better stretching and active warm up results

3. Short Hold, Light Static Stretching – minimum 10 reps/seconds per muscle group

• Improves any short term loss of flexibility
• Neural deactivation – alone, does NOT eliminate immediate risk of injury
• Long-term care to prevent future ligament and tendon injuries

4. Active Range of Motion  - minimum 15 reps/seconds per muscle group

• Yoga Stretches, Controlled Arm Swings, etc
• Neural activation - Actively stimulates the muscles to coordinate, react
• Improves joint mobility at all angles
• Don't forget your upper body!

5. Active Warm Up – minimum 10 reps/seconds per muscle group

• TECHNIQUE, TECHNIQUE, TECHNIQUE
• Improves joint movement and accuracy (consistent repetition)
• Reduces likelihood of preventable injuries
• Don't forget upper body!

6. 90-100% Effort Speed Reps – minimum  4-5 reps total body movements

• Short duration - Does not have to be alot  
• Improves power output (short-term only),
• Needs to occur regularly throughout a game prior to game speed activity (i.e. pitcher's warm up pitches, on deck batter)
• Don't forget your upper body!

7. Post-Game/Activity  - minimum 5 reps/seconds per body part

• Light Active Range of Motion
• Long hold, Static Stretch
• Gradual "warm-down" to restore any flexibility lost during game
• Helps recovery and tissue "repairability"
• Relaxation technique may improve sleep, thus better recovery

Agility is training the body to communicate and coordinate quicker, more efficient responses by the muscle to make better reactions to continuously occurring changes.  The more efficient the communication is, the more efficient the muscle activation will be.  This will not only improve performance but, can also lessen the occurrence of injury. 

An agility routine is an essential aspect in any athlete's training regime.  As a young athlete, it is important that agility is incorporated prior to beginning a heavy resistance routine.  The focus of agility is on total body coordination and joint strength and stability, which is necessary in any safe and effective sport-specific strength program.   Although barbells and dumbbells aren't required as of yet, there are still resistances being applied to the body during agility training: the natural forces of gravity and momentum.

Remember to use a progressive approach.  Begin with basic core stability and balance drills.  Once the slower, more basic skills are mastered it is safe to move on to more advanced drills.  If these exercises have all ready been mastered, then begin practicing linear agility drills before moving into multi-directional drills.  Continue to incorporate an in-depth balance and core stability routine into the program.  This can often be used as a warm-up routine into the agility program.  It is also very important that proper body positioning takes priority over how quickly a specific drill is completed.  In this case, agility and quickness are two different things.  Bad posture or uncontrolled movement not only can result in injury but will also slow the athlete down.  Here, agility is maintaining proper posture and positioning and should be the primary focus.  Once enough core strength is achieved and these agility movements mastered, the athlete can begin a progressive strength and explosiveness routine.  At this point, greater improvements in quickness and speed will occur. 

Figure 1. The Athlete's Batter's Box. 
Preparing your body for high velocity movement is accomplished by focusing on warming up the muscles that surround and support your major joints.

On-Field Athletic Skill Practice (Pre-Game/Practice Warm Ups)     
Practice Length - 5-20 minutes depending on repetitions performed.

General Athleticism

Elevate Body's Core Temperature   

1.      Jog 1-5 minutes

2.    Progressive Run to Backpedal (Run 10 yards/Backpedal 5 yards x 20 yards)

Active Range of Motion – 20 reps

Spine Stability and Movement

3.      Torso Rotations

4.      Warrior Pose and Rotate

Hip Stability and Movement 

5.      Fire Hydrants

6.      Frog Legs

Shoulder Stability and Scap Movement

7.      Controlled Arm Circles

8.      Controlled Arm Swings

9.      Bent Over External/Internal Rotation

Sport-Specific Prep - 20 yards

Movement Technique

10. Lunge and Reach

11. Floor Touches

12. Lateral Push Offs (Shuffles)

13. Carioca Crossover Step

14. Heel Toe Marches/Skips

15. Knee Punches (High Knees)

16. Backpedal

Core Explosiveness/Speed

17. 10 yard Sprints x 2

18. 20 yard Sprints x 2

19. 30 yard Sprints x 2 (age 8 and up)

20. 40 yard Sprints x 2 (age 11 and up)

Game Time!!

References

1.. Baechle, Thomas.  Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.  National

     Strength and Conditioning Association.  Human Kinetics.  1994.

2.  Brown, Lee E., Vance A. Ferrigno, Juan Carlos Santana.  Training for Speed,  

     Agility, and Quickness.  Human Kinetics.  2000.

3.  Coleman, Gene.  52-Week Baseball Training.  Human Kinetics.  2000.

4.  Enoka, Roger M.  Neuromechanics of Human Movement.  3rd ed.  Human

     Kinetics.  2002.

5.  Hastad, Douglas N., Lacy, Alan C.  Measurement and Evaluation in Physical

     Education and Exercise Science.  2nd ed. Gorsuch Publishers. 1994.

6.  McArdle, William D., Katch, Frank I., Katch, Victor L.  Exercise Physiology:

     Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance.  4th ed.  Williams and Wilkins.  

     1996.

7.  O'Sullivan, Susan B., Schmitz, Thomas J.  Physical Rehabilitation,

     Assessment, and Treatment. F.A. Davis Company.  Jean-Francois Vilain

     Publishers.  1994.