Created by – Mark Vincent D’Elia, Intern at Krank Nutley (2016)

Purpose: The rationale for this manual is to explain the exercises that Krank Athletes’ perform prior to engaging in full-body strength and conditioning workouts. The twelve exercises in this routine were selected to prepare athlete’s bodies before engaging in full-body strength and conditioning exercises. The dynamic warm-up is safe and effective as long as the exercises are performed correctly.

Please refer to the explanations and visualizations of the exercises to get a better understanding of the movements.

The main purpose of stretching (aside from enhancing performance) is to minimize the occurrence of injuries (Weerapong, Hume, & Kolt, 2004). Although different stretching routines have different needs, dynamic stretching is preferred when aiming to maximize muscle force production. If an athlete’s body is not prepared for the desired activity, they will be at an increased risk of suffering a muscular injury. Therefore, performing a activity specific dynamic warm-up (without static stretching) minimizes the risk of injury (Zakaria, Kiningham, & Sen, 2015). Zakaria et al. (2015) tested the effects of static and dynamic stretching on injury prevention for a total of 22 soccer teams (465 participants) over the course of the season. The descriptive characteristics between dynamic and static stretching protocols are provided in Table 1. The teams that performed dynamic stretching before practice and games suffered fewer injuries (17) than the static stretching groups (20) throughout the entirety of the season. The study concluded that implementing a static stretching component to a warm-up routine serves as a detriment for athletes in terms of preventing lower-extremity, lower-back, and core injuries. As a result, warm-ups prior to engaging in physical activity should be dynamic.

Benefits of dynamic warm-ups for athletes: Dynamic stretching has proven to have beneficial acute effects on performance of athletes in categories such as power, agility, vertical jump height, sprint time, and many other physical advantages in comparison to other types of stretching protocols (Chaouachi et al., 2010).

Power, Speed, and Agility.

Dynamic stretching is beneficial when included in a warm-up for an activity requiring muscular power, speed, and agility (Chaouachi et al., 2010; Faigenbaum et al., 2005; Holding et al., 2013; Ryan et al., 2014). A study that was conducted by Washif et al. (2013) proved that there was a significant improvement in the 50 meter sprint and reaction time after dynamic stretching in comparison to the results recorded from static stretching and combined static-dynamic stretching. The provided results from Washif’s study suggested that dynamic stretching influenced the greatest performance in a sprint, reaction time, and power production in male sprinters (Holding et al., 2013) when compared to other stretching protocols. Similarly, Faigenbaum et al. (2005), tested the acute effects of different warm-up protocols on fitness performance in children. The subjects were tested on vertical jump, shuttle-run, long jump, and v-sit flexibility. The three treatments that the subjects were prescribed before performing fitness testing were the following: static stretching (SS), dynamic stretching (DY), and dynamic stretching followed by 3 drop jumps from 15-cm boxes (DYJ). The vertical jump and long jump performance declined significantly following SS as compared to DY and DYJ. Refer to Figure 1 (below) to see the results from the fitness performances following the three different warm-up protocols. The results of these studies concluded that a dynamic stretching component in a warm-up is beneficial on performance when engaging in activities that demand high power

output (Faigenbaum et al., 2005). Faigenbaum et al. (2005) also discovered that pre-event static stretching may result in a decrease in performance for activities that demand high power output.

Sport Specific Performance

Amiri-Khorasani and Kellis (2013) discovered that there was a significant increase in knee extension angular velocity in lower-limb muscles after dynamic stretching exercises in comparison to static stretching in a group of 12 male college soccer players. The data collected concluded that dynamic stretching significantly increased activity of the quadriceps muscles and knee extension velocity when performing a soccer instep kick (Amiri-Khorasani & Kellis, 2013). According to the findings previously mentioned, it is evident that there is a positive benefit from providing athletes with an appropriate and effective stretching routine.

Similarly, Gelen (2010) studied the acute effects of different warm-up methods were tested on sprint, dribbling, and penalty kick performance in soccer players. The subjects were 26 professional soccer players whom volunteered for the study. There were four warm-up routines that were performed in random order on non-consecutive days. The first method (A) included 5 minutes of jogging; the second (B) included 5 minutes of jogging with static stretching; the third (C) included 5 minutes of jogging with dynamic stretching; and the fourth method (D) included 5 minutes of jogging followed by a combination of both static and dynamic stretching. Method C (jog with dynamic) yielded the best results out of this study followed by method D (jog with dynamic and static component), which was second best in all three testing areas. Therefore, before performing in activities that require high power output, dynamic stretching exercises are most desirable (Gelen, 2010). Other studies have reported similar findings (Chaouachi et al., 2010; Faigenbaum et al., 2005; Holding et al., 2013; Zakaria et al., 2015).

Materials needed : 20x5 yard space

Time: 8 – 12 minutes, depending on the size of the class

1. Frankensteins – While walking, swing one leg straight up and touch your toes with the hand opposite of the swinging legs. Alternate legs and hands each time. (6 for each leg, 12 total)

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2. Hug Up, Toes Up - While walking, grab your knee and pull it in to your chest by hugging it and tightening your glutes at the top of the movement. While you are returning your foot to the ground, place your heel (toes up) next to your stationery foot and lean forward and touch your toes with both hands. Alternate legs each time (5 for each leg, 10 total)

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3. Step, Step, Squat – Simply step with one foot, step with the other while preparing your feet for a squat, and then do a squat. Alternate the foot taking the initial step each time. (4 each leg, 8 total)

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4. Walk Out w/ a Strider w/ a Twist – Begin by placing your hands (close to your feet) onto the ground and walk them out until you get into a plank position. From the plank, perform a strider with a twist (rotate torso toward bent leg) to each leg. After both rotations, walk your feet up towards your hands while keeping your legs straight; then repeat. (4 each leg, 8 total)

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4 5 65. Over the Fence – Start with your feet together. While stepping laterally, lift and bend your

knee toward your chest then swing it out laterally and place it down into a squat position, then squat. After the squat, do the opposite of the previous movement with the opposite

foot and place your foot next to the other one again. (4 facing one direction, 4 facing the opposite direction)

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6. Lateral Push - Ups – From a push-up position, cross your hand over the opposite hand. Once the crossing hand is place onto the ground, move the other hand back into push-up position, then perform a push-up. Be sure to adjust your and move your feet laterally to maintain proper push-up position. (4 facing each direction, 8 total push-ups)

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7. Alternating Walking Lunges – Perform lunges while alternating legs. Be sure that your front knee does not go past your toes. There and back (about 10 each leg, 20 total)

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8. High Shuffle – Shuffle laterally while jumping for maximum height. Movement should be continuous. There and back facing both directions.

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9. Low Shuffle – Sitting in a low squat position, shuffle laterally while moving quickly and maintaining a low squat position. There and back facing both directions.

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10. High Knee Skip – Skip while raising your bent knee above your waist. (6-8 each leg, 12-16 total)

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11. Power Skip – Power skip for maximum height. (3 each side, 6 total)

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12. Broad Jumps 50% There, 100% back – Four broad jumps at 50% power one way, four broad jumps at 100% power back. (4 each, 8 total)

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References

Amiri-Khorasani, M., & Kellis, E. (2013). Static vs. Dynamic Acute Stretching Effect on Quadriceps Muscle Activity during Soccer Instep Kicking. Journal of Human Kinetics, 39(September), 37–47. http://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2013-0066

Chaouachi, A., Castagna, C., Chtara, M., Brughelli, M., Turki, O., Galy, O., … Behm, D. G. (2010). Effect of warm-ups involving static or dynamic stretching on agility, sprinting, and jumping performance in trained individuals. Journnal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(8), 2001–2011. http://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181aeb181

Faigenbaum, A. D., Bellucci, M., Bernieri, A., Bakker, B., & Hoorens, K. (2005). Acute Effects of Different Warm-Up Protocols on Fitness Performance in Children. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 19(2), 376–381. http://doi.org/10.1519/R-15344.1

Gelen, E. (2010). Acute effects of different warm-up methods on sprint, slalom dribbling, and penalty kick performance in soccer players. J Strength Cond Res, 24(4), 950–956. http://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181cb703f

Holding, R. C., Meir, R. a, & Zhou, S. (2013). Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, 21(6), 21–29.

Ryan, E. D., Everett, K. L., Smith, D. B., Pollner, C., Thompson, B. J., Sobolewski, E. J., & Fiddler, R. E. (2014). Acute effects of different volumes of dynamic stretching on vertical jump performance, flexibility and muscular endurance. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 34(6), 485–492. http://doi.org/10.1111/cpf.12122

Weerapong, P., Hume, P. a., & Kolt, G. S. (2004). Stretching: Mechanisms and Benefits for Sport Performance and Injury Prevention. Physical Therapy Reviews, 9(4), 189–206. http://doi.org/10.1179/108331904225007078

Zakaria, A. A., Kiningham, R. B., & Sen, A. (2015). Effects of Static and Dynamic Stretching on Injury Prevention in High School Soccer Athletes: A Randomized Trial. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 24(3), 229–35. http://doi.org/10-1123/jsr.2013-0114