R.A.M.P - The Process of Warming-Up
How do YOU ‘Warm-Up’ for your sessions? Be that, on the field/park/court?
Long gone are the days (hopefully) of the classic two laps around the oval and static stretching before getting into training. With the intensity and demands of modern sport increasing rapidly over the years, we are lucky enough to have new age protocols that can guide your warm ups to cater for whatever session you are about to dive into!
What is the intention of a ‘Warm-Up’ exactly?
The obvious points are;
Readiness to train/play, physically and mentally
But what usually gets overlooked is the idea that a GOOD warm-up can deliver;
A sound injury reduction strategy, along with
Performance enhancement
It is often thought that warming-up and training are separate entities, where as if we crunch the numbers; 10min warm up, 3 times a week (trainings/game day), over a 20-week season = 10 hours.
-> Now that 10 hours can either be wasted on going through the motions, or it can be used in a well thought out manner in order to create a training stimulus week after week.
So... what should we be doing then?
The R.A.M.P Protocol is a set of guidelines, created by Dr. Ian Jefferey & Mark Verstegen, that can be moulded to whatever sport needed through following not a set group of exercises but a framework to exercise/movement selection.
R = Raise; We want to raise base core body temperature, increase heart rate and allow for greater amounts of blood flow to the muscles required for our sport. This section should include movements that will be prevalent within the sport we are getting ready for, but at a LOW intensity.
For example; 50% jogging forwards/backwards, non-reactive changes of direction, more global movements like squats/lunges/etc…
A = Activate; The aim here is to emphasise the use of KEY muscle groups important to the sport at hand in order to have them ready to go when we need them further into the session. This may mean in sports that involve large amounts of ground-based changes of direction, that muscles like the glutes could be a target of some sort of activation exercise.
For example; For targeting the roles of the glutes, some controlled hip extension (glute bridges) or emphasising a reducing the amount of knee valgus when landing, mini-band crab walks could be useful
M = Mobilise; Now that the body is close to 50% ready for performance with good amounts of blood flow. We want to address key mobility requirements, in a dynamic manor (as opposed to static stretching) to capitalise on this heightened flow and encourage new ranges of motion through important joints for the sport.
For example; using Mike Boyles joint-by-joint approach, starting from the ankles and moving through the more mobile joints of the body and selecting appropriate exercises to aid new range through these areas -> ankle pumps for the ankle joint
P = Potentiate; The last stage of the R.A.M.P protocol is to ‘prime’ ourselves physically and mentally. This is where we will be aiming to gradually lift from that 50% intensity to near 100% by the end. Similarly, to R, look to replicate movements that you would see in close full intensity game play, but ensure these movements have been built up to in this last stage. Low volume plyometric also encouraged, if it fits to the requirements of the sport.
For example; 20-40m 70/80/90% efforts, sharper changes of direction, jumps, bounds, anything really that you would see commonly on the field/park/court
It would be very easy to present you with a generic warm up, but enforcing an understanding behind what principles drive decision making when planning a warm-up is something that we feel is massive in upskilling athletes and coaches.
Education is truly an ESSENTIAL factor for ensuring the outcome of our sessions are better going forward.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time.
If you have any questions on anything warm-up related; should I be doing this/or that, how long, with what/with who, etc.. Feel free to contact us on our socials;
INSTAGRAM - @Risehealthgroup FACEBOOK - Rise Performance Rehabilitation Healthcare
