Constantly Learning and Sometimes Amazed

This past weekend I attended a clinic where I learned that something that I have been doing for my 39 years of coaching is wrong! I learned that warm-up is now outdated and that I need to do movement prep instead. I learned that all warm-up does is raise the temperature of the body. Naturally I was taken aback. I am always open to new ideas and I continually challenge myself to learn and improve, but this was a bit much. Let’s get something straight, warm-up is warm-up, movement prep as I see it presented and executed is an implicit part of warm-up. You must warm-up in a systematic, sequential and progressive manner. In fact warm-up may be the most important aspect of the whole workout. It is your bridge from your everyday activities to the mental and physical rigors of the workout. Warm-up does not stand alone; it must match up and dovetail with the objective of the workout, it must be carefully choreographed and sequenced so that it seamlessly flows into the actual workout. Forget movement prep and warm-up, it has worked well for a long time.

Comments

[Todd Langer]

Can you elaborate on what the differences are in MP and a warm-up? For instance, I've always assumed MP was just a sport specific warm-up. Or in other words the difference was merely semantics and had to do more with marketing and less with any substantial difference in training philosophy. What did you see/hear at the seminar that made a clear distinction. How is the MP part of the warm-up? Thanks.