How do you use functional training in your warm-up?

Functional exercises like squats, walking lunges, high knees, and butt kicks versus static stretching are great ways to warm up before a training run or race!

I played a bit of tennis. It occurred to me that the warm up before a game is how we should approach our training. You've seen it on tv, they go through all the strokes but easy and gradual. Warming up for a workout should take the same path, mimic moves you will be doing in the workout and build towards the pinnacle sets. I use a foam roller and trigger ball to loosen and warm up muscle tissue, some whole body mobility, perhaps a 3-5 min cardio activity and then core & glute activation work. By this time you will be ready to get even more functional in your workout, but again build, don't just jump in gung ho! Rule number 1. Don't hurt yourself. Consistency and a long term view leads to the holy grail of a self perpetuating better life.

I've used the FMS and Gary Gray's 3D Maps and both create a positive first step in the majority of new clients and members fitness journey. They all want to move better, feel better and have fun playing better.

Functional Training FT involves the way you move in your everyday life; for your job, activities of daily living, a particular sport or hobby you may enjoy. Functional movements are squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling, reaching, twisting, bending and balancing. FT prepares your body and supports it to take action. As a Yoga For Arthritis Teacher, I teach my students with arthritis how to get up and down from the floor safely with props they can find around the house. This involves a yoga mat, a sturdy chair and a cushion(s) from the couch or foam pad. This is a useful way to educate people on how to move mindfully so they may sit on the floor and play with their kids or grandchildren. It also helps build confidence and independence.

Every warm-up is divided into 2 parts; the first one is dedicated mostly to increasing the range of motion and temperature of the body, meanwhile the second part searches to adapt the neurological system to the patterns of movement that are in the session. This is a simple example of these two parts. Cat-camel Child's pose to cobra Open book on a wall Burpees Jumping jacks Then: Lunge with jump Exaggerated technique of running Dynamic press Pallof

Follow Periodization Principles... Alternate Easy. Medium.. Hard training days. Never back to back Hard days. 72 hours rest after Plyometric TRAINING

Functional training is all about preparing your body for the real-world movements you encounter in daily life, sports, or any activity you love. 3D Maps, Developed by Gary Gray focuses on three key dimensions of movement: 1?? The Sagittal Plane: Forward and backward movements, like squats or lunges. 2?? The Frontal Plane: Side-to-side movements, such as lateral lunges or jumping jacks. 3?? The Transverse Plane: Rotational movements, like twisting, pivoting, or throwing. So, how do you incorporate this into your warm-up? 1?? Diversity is Key: Start by including movements that engage all three planes of motion. Mix up your warm-up routine with sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane movements to activate various muscle groups.

In my experience working with general population clients, I've had great success utilizing walking stretches like a knee to chest or thigh stretch for reps and various skipping/shuffling drills as warm-ups for engaging balance and coordination prior to functional training sessions.

Work on the whole body, Squats: Squats are a great way to warm up your knees, hips, and ankles. Push-ups: Push-ups are a great way to warm up your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Plank: The plank is a great way to warm up your core.

In my opinion, Jogging and skipping, our performance moves. They are too demanding to call them a functional movement warm-up. A functional movement warm-up should start non-loaded and make sure to move the major joints in all the directions they were naturally intended to move. Then, move towards more loaded exercises, again, picking h moves that use the major joints in all the directions they are naturally intended to move in.

Balance your body. E.g. softball or baseball player who bats right. Add swings from left side to balance. Rotate both ways. Do not overuse dominant side.

Train lower body with knee bent - Single Leg. Recruit microneurotransmitters under patella so CNS OPTIMIZED. BNP TRAINING ... BALANCE. NEUROMUSCULAR TRAINING. PROPRIOCEPTION

Surprise athletes by having days where they have FUNNNNN... using their body differently than their sport demands. With team - Dodge Ball. Frisbee football

Make sure athletes are learning something new weekly minimum. Handouts reinforce important information. Trainer needs to find out day after how athlete feels. Do not impact same muscle in multiple ways ' if soreness or pain reported trainer will not know cause. Use Periodization Principles

In Pilates as Joseph Pilates created his work it was all about functional training. Squats, hip mobility and using his exercises to be able to move freely and prevent injury in daily movement and activities. It is more than looking a certain way but being able to prevent falling, getting up and down from the floor and staying mobile in life

When selecting functional exercises, consider what your/the person you’re training’s profession is. For example, a barber that is stood up all day hunched over with hands & arms out in front of them most of the day to cut hair may suffer from tightness in the shoulders/upper back. Here I would prescribe an exercise like Kettlebell Halos (round the worlds some may call it) to strengthen the deltoids, teres major and the rotator cuffs. The result being better posture, less fatigue and healthier shoulders overall.

The warm-up should also match the intensity of what the exercise/activity will be. For example, warm-up for a cyclist should be different than for a runner. The cyclist should do more range of motion because cycling is not a High load activity. Running, should start with some easy range, but then needs to have some demand to it to get the body ready for running. Swimming, it’s totally different. Because a swimmer is horizontal and supported in the water, prior to a workout it should be totally range of motion, and after swimming loaded range of motion to get the body back to working correctly in a gravity based environment.