Young athletes often treat the warm-up as a formality – a quick jog, a few token stretches, and done. But a well-designed warm-up can be a powerful tool to reduce injury risk and boost performance. Conversely, a haphazard or rushed warm-up leaves athletes literally cold when they jump into intense activity. Coaches, particularly team coaches, should establish player pride in good warm-ups.

A purposeful warm-up does far more than increase body temperature. It should address “bad stiffness” in tight muscles and activate “good stiffness” in the right places for stability. It should activate the nervous system for explosive activity and prime blood flow to the correct muscles. It should work on important skills or positions.

Are your players hitting all 5 of those goals in every warm-up? Or are a couple laps around the field and some random work all they do?

“The Warm-up IS the Workout”

Legendary lifter and coach Dan John is fond of saying, “the warm-up is the workout.” His point is that it is an opportunity to really improve, not just “move around”. An optimal warm-up is always done in purposeful, progressive stages that build strategically. It provides a smooth transition to the rest of the workout.

There should be no discernable gap in intensity between the finished warm-up and beginning of the main workout. Like an on-ramp to the highway, you should be close to cruising speed when you hit the end (assuming you’re not stuck behind grandma).

When an athlete steps in our building, they start a focused process. First, they foam roll to reduce stiffness and soreness in targeted areas. Second, they stretch known “hot spots” or problem areas we identify for their movement. Third, athletes do dynamic mobility drills. This works on positional control and range of motion and is never sloppy.

Fourth, they ramp up the intensity and raise temperature with quicker dynamic movement drills. Fifth, we prime the nervous system for acceleration with plyometrics and explosive skill practice. We prime the movement patterns we need to focus on and start firing up the nervous system with progressively more explosive movements.

This is a perfect time to focus on drilling important positions (for example, in sprinting) or new skills (technical work for teams). Athletes learn best when fresh. An athlete who has practiced movement patterns and techniques in a controlled environment will execute them better in chaos. It’s motor learning 101.

Finally, we start lifting. We’ve already accomplished 5 key goals for training.

A Culture of Excellence Starts with Small Things

Using the end of the warm-up period to train important game skills or sport-specific positions helps players take pride in quality. If they understand the importance of what they are doing, they are less tempted to absentmindedly go through the motions. We always coach the warm-up just as hard as the main workout.

This works in the field too. When the athlete starts the main practice, their joints move more freely (thanks to mobility work) and their key stabilizers are ready to go, thanks to activation. This means each sprint, cut, or jump they do is on a body that’s prepared to handle it.

Cold muscles are less elastic and more injury-prone, everyone knows this. Without rehearsal of proper mechanics, the first high-intensity moves are usually sloppy and can catch the body off guard. So why be lazy in the warm-up? You need more than a couple laps around the field and some crunches.

Athletes should treat the warm-up not as wasted time but as an integral part of training. For coaches it’s an opportunity to build athletes up daily and set a culture of excellence. Over weeks, a routine that consistently works on, say, ankle mobility or thoracic spine rotation can correct issues that might have led to an injury down the road.

Ultimately, a purposeful warm-up is a habit multiplier. It’s preventative maintenance, but much more than that it can be a performance amplifier when used correctly. When ignored or not strategically planned, it’s a missed opportunity and can actually hold back performance gains. Ten to fifteen minutes spent on targeted mobility and activation is far better than weeks spent recovering from an avoidable strain or sprain.