Warming Up
I could just discuss you what to do in this document, but that’s pointless, as I think you know, I want people to understand what they are doing. If you know this you can adapt and change if needed.
So firstly what is a warm up for?
It has several purposes, to prepare the body physically for the activity we are doing, to prepare the mind for what we are doing, and to connect the mind and our muscles so we are “switched on” and ready to race.
Warming up for a race
As everyone switches on at different rates and with time available on a race day, we have a few options and routines we could do.
Normal water warm up starting 15-20ish mins before race run.
(What I like to do – I get very nervous, so like once im on the water just to get going, keep it simple, I also have a good ability to switch on and be ready)
Prewarm up well before race. Then a normal warm up.
(This can make you feel looser once you get to the normal warm up)
Warm up say starting 50 mins before race. 15 min warm up, Jump off and watch for 25 mins then then 10 more mins final warm up.
( A lot of international people do this at world cups. Gives the opportunity to watch people down the course, or people of similar ability/class if late on in class)
What could a warm up consist of (in no particular order at the moment)
Paddling that takes you though from easy paddling to above race pace paddling
Mental rehearsal
Stretching
Drills
Sprints
Gates sequences??
So lets just plan a Normal warm up routine.
5 mins paddle easy
Circles on sweeps going left
Circles on sweeps going right
Offside edge donuts L
Offside edge donuts R
Gates –
1x up L
1x up R
1x up L on reverse
1x up R on reverse
Stagger left with bow rudder
Stagger Right with bow rudder
Stagger Left with sweep under
Stagger Right with sweep under
5 mins paddle easy to medium to hard
Mental rehearsal
10m Sprint 1 min off
20m Sprint 1 min off
10m Sprint 1 min off
To startline.
|Why
Before we go though the above warm up, we could also include a bank based warm up, but will leave this out for the moment.
-We start with some easy paddling to get the bloody flowing though our muscles, and to warm them up, a warm muscle is more responsive and supple getting rid of any stiffness.
-The next drills would include rotation and edge work, again to warm up the muscles and to start increasing connection from the body to the brain.
-Once we are a little more switched on then I would do some gate work, at a medium pace, again to start feeling more supple around poles and make sure when I do a more on the course in a full pace run it isnt the first time I had done it. This would include ups and staggers if possible. Again this isnt always possible, but then improvise, do some paddling with 360 turns or stagger in and out of posts or just use your imagination.
-I would then go for another longer paddle, upping the pace throughout. Again preparing the muscles to have to work at a higher intensity.
-When I feel warm and ready I would then go and mentally rehearse the course I am about to do in my head, be clear of the key strokes, and the intensity I want to attack this at.
-Finally I would do some short sprints, again, this would be racepace.
-Then to the start.
Individual vs Individual
Different personalities
Some will arrive in the start pool with 2 mins to go.
They will keep distance away from everyone. Get there Coach or a Parent to give him a call down to the startline with a predetermined time left before there run.
In contrast
Some are very social, will even be sat on the startline, talking to the starter until 20 sec to go.
On the Startline. I think the key to to clear the head. Nothing in the world matters at this point. Mind is clear, I think about the rhythm I want during the run. The smoothness. I control nerves that are creeping in. My breathing is key, this keeps me calm.
Overall
The flaw in a lot of Juniors when warming up is they get to the start too early. This is sometimes hard. You never want to be late and miss your run. But in contrast, if you are too early in a very busy start pool, you often just wait around. This waiting around from a physical perspective causes your muscles to get cold and not perform to an optimum level. From a mental perspective you can lose focus, get distracted by other competitors and when that start time approaches not be in the optimum zone.
Now again every individual is different. Some like to be social on a startline. This is their way of coping with stress, or just enjoy chatting! As long as you are then ready and switched on to go, thats cool.
I have tried to keep article as simple as possible. There is plenty of information around that can describe the muscular properties of warming up, I would invite you to look into this if you are interested.
I could just discuss you what to do in this document, but that’s pointless, as I think you know, I want people to understand what they are doing. If you know this you can adapt and change if needed.
So firstly what is a warm up for?
It has several purposes, to prepare the body physically for the activity we are doing, to prepare the mind for what we are doing, and to connect the mind and our muscles so we are “switched on” and ready to race.
Warming up for a race
As everyone switches on at different rates and with time available on a race day, we have a few options and routines we could do.
Normal water warm up starting 15-20ish mins before race run.
(What I like to do – I get very nervous, so like once im on the water just to get going, keep it simple, I also have a good ability to switch on and be ready)
Prewarm up well before race. Then a normal warm up.
(This can make you feel looser once you get to the normal warm up)
Warm up say starting 50 mins before race. 15 min warm up, Jump off and watch for 25 mins then then 10 more mins final warm up.
( A lot of international people do this at world cups. Gives the opportunity to watch people down the course, or people of similar ability/class if late on in class)
What could a warm up consist of (in no particular order at the moment)
Paddling that takes you though from easy paddling to above race pace paddling
Mental rehearsal
Stretching
Drills
Sprints
Gates sequences??
So lets just plan a Normal warm up routine.
5 mins paddle easy
Circles on sweeps going left
Circles on sweeps going right
Offside edge donuts L
Offside edge donuts R
Gates –
1x up L
1x up R
1x up L on reverse
1x up R on reverse
Stagger left with bow rudder
Stagger Right with bow rudder
Stagger Left with sweep under
Stagger Right with sweep under
5 mins paddle easy to medium to hard
Mental rehearsal
10m Sprint 1 min off
20m Sprint 1 min off
10m Sprint 1 min off
To startline.
|Why
Before we go though the above warm up, we could also include a bank based warm up, but will leave this out for the moment.
-We start with some easy paddling to get the bloody flowing though our muscles, and to warm them up, a warm muscle is more responsive and supple getting rid of any stiffness.
-The next drills would include rotation and edge work, again to warm up the muscles and to start increasing connection from the body to the brain.
-Once we are a little more switched on then I would do some gate work, at a medium pace, again to start feeling more supple around poles and make sure when I do a more on the course in a full pace run it isnt the first time I had done it. This would include ups and staggers if possible. Again this isnt always possible, but then improvise, do some paddling with 360 turns or stagger in and out of posts or just use your imagination.
-I would then go for another longer paddle, upping the pace throughout. Again preparing the muscles to have to work at a higher intensity.
-When I feel warm and ready I would then go and mentally rehearse the course I am about to do in my head, be clear of the key strokes, and the intensity I want to attack this at.
-Finally I would do some short sprints, again, this would be racepace.
-Then to the start.
Individual vs Individual
Different personalities
Some will arrive in the start pool with 2 mins to go.
They will keep distance away from everyone. Get there Coach or a Parent to give him a call down to the startline with a predetermined time left before there run.
In contrast
Some are very social, will even be sat on the startline, talking to the starter until 20 sec to go.
On the Startline. I think the key to to clear the head. Nothing in the world matters at this point. Mind is clear, I think about the rhythm I want during the run. The smoothness. I control nerves that are creeping in. My breathing is key, this keeps me calm.
Overall
The flaw in a lot of Juniors when warming up is they get to the start too early. This is sometimes hard. You never want to be late and miss your run. But in contrast, if you are too early in a very busy start pool, you often just wait around. This waiting around from a physical perspective causes your muscles to get cold and not perform to an optimum level. From a mental perspective you can lose focus, get distracted by other competitors and when that start time approaches not be in the optimum zone.
Now again every individual is different. Some like to be social on a startline. This is their way of coping with stress, or just enjoy chatting! As long as you are then ready and switched on to go, thats cool.
I have tried to keep article as simple as possible. There is plenty of information around that can describe the muscular properties of warming up, I would invite you to look into this if you are interested.