The little I know
about the warm-up
My earliest
memories as an athlete are not of the stadiums or the races, the victories or
the losses but the simple grass track where I trained. From those first days it
was clear that there was a brotherhood which connects the training group. There
was a sense of unity against the pain and affliction regularly distributed by
the coach in copious and often excessive amounts. The warm-up was our antebellum.
A moment to contemplate, to reflect and to ponder what lay in wait mere minutes
in the future. But this time was ours, to laugh and joke and ‘warm-up’ in
preparation for training.
Although this was
my experience with the warm-up, I am convinced that this was not a unique set
of events. Warm-ups have been part of sport for as long as people have realised
that some form of preparation may provide an optimal starting block; a point at
which the body is ready to undertake physical activity. The generic warm-up was
often expressed as a period of time to do what was needed to prepare for whatever
it was that needed to be prepare for. Though in many cases I can understand, if
not sympathize with an athlete’s lack of enthusiasm for this event. In popular
sports, football, rugby and distance running, the athlete competes in most
cases at a submaximal level. This allows for more gradual build up and longer
maintenance of capacity with less emphasis on an optimal moment.
This is not the
case with sprinters. Earlier I spoke of maximal potential. This is an
individual’s ability to perform at their optimal capacity over a period of time.
Where sprinting differs from other sports is that the period for maximal
potential is very small where minute deficiencies have huge effects, hundredths
of a second in some cases. Preparation is a vital component in achieving this
maximal potential. Every athlete has a unique make up and ultimately this needs
to be tailored to suit their individual needs. What is certain is that a
generic warm-up is not good enough in this day and age. Our current knowledge
on muscle function and physiology is closely linked with our desire to perform
at ever higher levels. The problem which we unfortunately create is which of
these ideas of the current batch of forward thinkers is correct, as controversy
is never far behind. The long and short of it is that it is hard to separate
the wheat from the chaff. New ideas based on sound research are like a mirage;
they come and disappear, leaving confusion and misperception, often for years
after something better has been though into existence.
The following pages
attempt to unravel the questions of the warm-up. Up to date research is used to
discuss this question and determine the appropriate practice to develop a
physical preparation to maximise potential prior to activity.
'The warm-up is not merely
the time before, it is where focus and preparation optimize an athlete prior to
training or competition'
