One of the best things you can do for the athletes you are training is to make sure they have good warm ups. You will want to avoid static stretching, because this causes a relaxation response in the muscle, in effect shutting down the muscles response when your athlete needs to perform. Static stretching also causes a decrease in strength and speed. What should you do instead? You should incorporate foam rolling and dynamic warm ups.
Foam rolling is a very easy and inexpensive way to help your athletes get a great warm up. If everyone who had recent surgery for orthopedic issues would instead have done intense work on flexibility and fascia-lengthening work using the process of foam rolling and stretching before their injury, probably fifty per cent of them would never have needed to have the surgery in the first place.
What is foam rolling? It is the application of pressure to muscles by means of a hard, foam cylinder. The purpose is to release the tension in those muscles. Specifically, it relaxes the fascia, which is a covering over all of your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It also covers your veins and nerves! Your organs and joints receive support from your fascia. In addition, it acts as a shock absorber and has lots of nerves.
If your athletes are going to be able to perform at their best, they need to have healthy fascia. Foam rolling can help them accomplish this. They can be taught how to do their own foam rolling. Teaching them the process should only take about thirty minutes, but if they are going to continue with it, they will need to be reminded and encouraged to do so by their parents and coaches alike.
Dynamic Warm Ups: A great warm up fires up your entire neuromuscular system, increases the temperature of your muscles, and lengthens the fascia. A ‘warm’ muscle and lengthened fascia can generate more energy and force, and react more efficiently to any demand you place on them. Bonus Tip: Before each dynamic warm up, remember to improve the quality of your fascia with 5-10 minutes of foam rolling.
It is important to take good care of the joints and ligaments. If they are healthy, they will keep your athletes free from many injuries. Joint integrity is a crucial part of any athlete’s career, and you should make it a key factor in your training regime.
About the author: Vito La Fata can help you and your team perform at optimum levels. He is a Nationally Certified Fitness Conditioning Specialist who provides expert strength and conditioning training. Contact him if you would like to have more information about how to get the best results from your team training.
