On Friday I posted a revolutionary training tip from Nick Tumminello (a personal trainer in Baltimore) that has completely changed the way I write my dynamic warm-ups.

In short, now I pair mobility and stability/activation exercises for each joint within the warm-up, instead of doing all mobility work first and all activation work second.

To give you an example of how this has changed my warm-ups, take a look at an old and new dynamic warm-up:

Old Dynamic Warm-Up:

  1. 3-Way Ankle Mobility (Toes on Wall): (3×5)/side
  2. Rectus Femoris Mobilization: 8/side
  3. Quadruped Rocking: 8
  4. 1/2 Kneeling 2-Way Thoracic Mobility: (2×5)/side
  5. Wall March Glute Activation: 15s/side
  6. Lateral Squat: 6/side
  7. Reverse lunge: 6/side
  8. Overhead Squat: 8
  9. Side Shuffle: 10 yards/side
  10. Long Stride Carioca: 15 yards/side
  11. Butt Kickers: 15 yards
  12. Back Pedal: 15 yards
  13. Penguin Walk (Heel walk): 25 yards

New Warm-Up (after making the change that Nick Tumminello clued me in on):

  1. 3-Way Ankle Mobility (Toes on Wall): (3×5)/side
  2. Penguin Walk: 25 yards
  3. Rectus Femoris Mobilization: 8/side
  4. Reverse Lunge: 8/side
  5. 2-Way Hamstring Mobilization: (2×5)/side
  6. Yoga Push-Up: 8
  7. Inverted Reach: 8/side
  8. Prone 2-Way Hip Rock: (2×8)/side
  9. Lateral Lunge -> Reverse Crossover Lunge: (2×6)/side
  10. Scap Wall Slide: 10
  11. Side Shuffle: 15 yards/side
  12. Butt Kickers: 15 yards
  13. Back Pedal: 15 yards
  14. 3/4 Speed Jog: 2 x 25 yards

See how easy that is? It’s a simple change that you can make to improve the effectiveness of your warm-ups.

Train hard. Train smart.

-Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you’re a hockey player or coach and want to get access to dozens of done-for-you dynamic warm-ups and training programs, go check out my hockey training site.

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

I played hockey for 15 years before I made the transition into coaching.  Throughout that time I rarely played other sports.  Soccer for a few years when I was very young.  Baseball for a season.  But that was about it.  Last night I went bowling for the first time in a while.  A huge fan of the Big Lebowski, I thought I could add bowling into my repertoire.  If the dude can throw strikes a couple white russians deep, why can’t I?  Last night I found out might logic might be somewhat flawed.  Needless to say, it was basically a 2 hour reminder of why I stuck with hockey my whole life.  

Getting back to dynamic warm-ups…Yesterday I showed you a sample dynamic warm-up that hit all the essentials, but included a lot of common/well-known exercises.  Today I just want to show you a few mobility drills that can be included into any dynamic warm-up routine that really focus on areas typically restricted in hockey players.

It’s far from ideal, but if you’re crunched for time, performing these 4 exercises will give you a decent warm-up before you start your training.  As always, feel free to post comments below or email me directly.  

 

Rectus Femoris Mobilization

Adductor Mobilization with External Rotation


 

Lying Internal Rotation Mobilization


 

Hockey Stick Dislocations

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Use CODE: "Neeld15" to save 15%