Why Do We Warm-Up Before Exercise?
A proper warm-up will set the tempo of your workout and prepare the body for athletic activity by:
- Increasing your heart rate and core body temperature
- Improving blood circulation to the active muscles
- Raising the activation level of your nervous system to communication faster with the active muscles
- Improving muscle metabolism and the use of energy stores
- Reducing stiffness in the joints and muscles to move more efficiently
- Improving muscle performance from increased speeds of contraction and relaxation
- Increasing mental focus on the training to follow
The Ranger Warm-Up Routine
The Ranger warm up is an active and dynamic routine that must be done in sequence for maximum benefit. Every warm-up should be specific to the activity that follows. For example, the warm-up to perform a lower body lift is different than the warm-up to throw a bullpen. However, all warm-up routines share the following components:
- General Warm-Up (2-5 min)- Involving jogging, biking, or jump rope to raise the core temperature and break a sweat
- Coordination Drills (3-5 min)- Including skipping, shuffling, backward running, and low intensity-low impact footwork drills
- Self-Massage/Self-Myofacial Release (2-5 min)- Creating increased circulation and breaking up adhesion from around our muscles
- Dynamic Mobility (4-7 min)- Emphasizing lunging, twisting, and reaching exercises to create mobility and loosen the hip, torso, and shoulder joints
- Flexibility (4-8 min)- Basic stretching routines to assist with muscle lengthening and postural balance
How Long Does a Good Warm-Up Take? 15-30 Minutes
The Ranger off-season warm-up is designed to include extra flexibility work and ensure that you take the time for self-massage (i.e. foam rolling). During the season we may only have a 10-minute team warm-up on the field, but you would have already foam rolled earlier in the training room, received treatments, hit early in the cage, etc. Although the program serves as a warm-up, it is designed to be a complete body wellness program to remain healthy and recover quicker from intense training.