When a sprinter does a proper warm-up their chances of having success dramatically rise.
But when a sprinter skips their warm-up their chances of having success dramatically fall.
The people in life that are prepared for what they need to do will always get the job done.
On the other side of the coin the people in life that are totally unprepared for what they need to do will always fail to get the job done.
Failing To Prepare Is Preparing To Fail
I have vivid memories of not being prepared in multiple areas of my life during my younger days.
In high school my lack of effort in the classroom left me totally unprepared for testing.
This led to below average grades in almost all of my classes except for health (big surprise) and history.
I was completely unprepared for the transition from high school sports to college athletics.
I got my then skinny arse handed to me on a paper plate my entire freshman year on the East Stroudsburg University track team.
There was no way I was ready to be a collegiate sprinter.
Dating women in my late teens was a total disaster as I was completely unprepared to talk to them.
You should have seen me stumbling and bumbling and fumbling over my words when I tried to talk to the ladies!
It’s All About That Prep Bro
As I began to mature I started to understand the vast importance of proper preparation.
Preparation is what separates the winners from the losers.
Preparation is what separates the people who make tremendous progress in the game from the folks who are stagnant or declining.
In my previous article I addressed several important keys that will prepare you to sprint.
Today I am going to further break down the specific parts of the sprinter warm-up.
Doing this sprinter warm-up will increase your performance and minimize your risk of injury for your future sprinting workouts.
Get Specific
The purpose of doing a warm-up specific to sprinting is so that you properly prepare your body to sprint.
You don’t get warmed up for sprinting by wasting 15 minutes on a lame “cardio” machine. That’s called fake hustle.
You get warmed up for sprinting by doing drills designed to improve sprinting performance.
Your warm-up for sprinting will consist of four parts. They are:
1) Walking Drills
The walking drills are the easiest of the bunch in terms of physicality.
But if you are an uncoordinated stiff, you will initially struggle to get the timing of the drills right.
The hardest part about these walking drills is getting the coordination down between your arms and legs.
The vast majority of the people that I have trained over the years have looked abysmal doing these drills on day 1.
I have looked just as abysmal doing these sprinter warm-up drills for the first time as a high school senior.
But if you are consistent with doing these drills, they will get significantly easier.
The walking drills are regressions of the next set of drills which are known as the skipping drills.
2) Skipping Drills
Things get interesting when you begin to skip.
The skipping drills are more difficult than the walking drills because now you are adding some speed to your movements.
You will more than likely feel very uncoordinated when you first start doing the skips. This is due to the increase in speed.
These drills are dynamic in nature and will wake up your central nervous system.
3) Sprinting Drills
Sprinting drills are the final drills you will do before you begin your sub-maximal sprints.
During these sprinting drills you are looking to execute them with crispness and power.
The sprinting drills prime your body for the final part of the warm-up.
4) Sub-Maximal Sprints
So before you begin to sprint for real you have to do a few sub-maximal sprints.
Sub-maximal sprints (75-80% speed) do two things: they fine tune your nervous system, and they allow you to identify any hidden injuries or pain.
You might feel good throughout the warm-up. But you have no idea what you have to offer for the workout until you begin to sprint.
You will perform 3-5 sub-maximal sprints before you start your actual workout.
The distance of your workout will dictate how long your sub-maximal sprints will be.
I typically do these sub-maximal sprints for a distance of 10-50 meters based on the workout.
Conclusion
The warm-up is the most important part of your workout.
If you skimp on your warm-up you will eventually pull your hamstring.
The dreaded hamstring pull (or tear) is almost inevitable for most competitive sprinters. But the way to minimize the chances of you pulling a hamstring is to properly warm-up.
Most of you reading this are not competing in track. But the importance of a proper warm-up for you is just as important as it is for a masters’ sprinter like myself.
By doing the sprinter warm-up you will dramatically reduce the chances of a bad hamstring injury.
Bonus:
If you want to build a lean, sprinter body download my groundbreaking eBook below.
Use Speed To Get Lean! The Sprinting Handbook For Lifters.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman
