Nick Tumminello, a Baltimore Personal Trainer, has become one of my go-to resources for new training information. During a recent conversation, he mentioned something so simple that I was (and still am) embarrassed that I didn’t think of it already.
As you probably already know, my dynamic warm-ups include a lot of joint mobility and muscle activation work. The problem with joint mobility work is that the improvements in muscle extensibility and movement quality are short-term.
Nick mentioned that it made the most sense to pair a mobilization of a specific joint with an activation/control exercise for the muscles surrounding that joint.
All I could think was “D’oh!”
This revelation has changed the way I write my warm-ups. Almost all the exercises are the same, but the order is different. Ankle mobility exercises are followed by tibialis anterior activation exercises (or other exercises requiring active dorsiflexion). Hamstring extensibility exercises are followed by hamstring activation/control exercises.
Improve mobility. Improve control. Improve mobility. Improve control. So simple. So effective. Thanks Nick!
-Kevin Neeld
P.S. Check back in the next couple of days as I’ll be posting exactly how I’ve started putting together my new warm-ups.