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ARTICLES > MOBILITY & TRAINING PREPARATION > NOVEMBER 8 2011
FREE SNATCH MANUAL
Warm-up is a Warm-up
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Greg Everett
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Ive seen more times than I can even believe warm-ups that
read exactly like workoutsand not easy ones. The first thing
I think to myself when I see these warm-ups is that I would
have to warm-up to do them. This is a pretty good tip-off that
your warm-up may not be serving its purpose. Ring dips, box
jumps, burpees and the like are not elements of a warm-up.
There will be times when you insert non-warm-up exercises
before the primary workout, but these come after an adequate
warm-up; theyre not part of it. These are usually remedial
exercises to address an athletes or clients weaknesses or
activation exercises to help correct inactive musculature in a
manner that carries over into the subsequent training (an
example would be glute medius activation drills).
That being said, I recognize and accept that some injuries and
pain are inevitable with any physical activity, particularly
among groups of people who have the shared tendency to
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
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So what should a warm-up actually look like? Here are some
guidelines to help you develop what I would consider an
effective training preparation protocol.
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Monostructural Work
Foam Rolling
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like to hit the upper back to mobilize the thoracic spine, then Login | Register
smooth out the scapular musculature and lat/teres/etc.
attachments under the arms. From there glutes,
hamstrings/adductors; then VMO/adductors, quads from front
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to lateral aspects, TFL, and finally calves if needed. Generally
about 10 passes on each area is adequate.
Dynamic Warm-up
This is where we get into the kicks and twirlies. My goal with
this portion of a warm-up is two basic things: make sure I
address all the movements or joints necessary, and try to get
in enough variation day to day that people stay engaged and
perform it properly rather than turn into drooling robots who
arent accomplishing what I expect them to.
-Wrists
-Elbows
-Shoulders/Upper back
-Spine/trunk
-Hip flexors/quads
-Hip extensors/adductors
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
Wrists
Elbows
You can get a bit more involved and throw in things like drill
bits or rotations with a PVC pipe. For the latter, hold a PVC
pipe horizontally in front of you with your left hand gripping the
left end of the pipe with a supinated grip and your right hand
grasping the middle of the pipe lightly (doesnt really matter if
its palm up or down, but up is easier). Keeping the right hand
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
as an anchor in about the same place, let the pipe slide Login | Register
through it freely as needed while you pronate your left hand,
still gripping the pipe, and extend your left elbow. Move back
and forth between supination and pronation, fully extending
your elbow each time.
Shoulders/Upper Back
Foam rolling the thoracic spine is the ideal way to start your
shoulder warm-up. Many times people are so focused on
shoulder mobility that they overlook the fact that their upper
backs are hunched and tight, placing excessive demand on
the shoulders to take up the slack. Mobilize the upper back,
and suddenly your shoulders will feel a lot more flexible.
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
the same grip but start with the arms in front of you. Squeeze Login | Register
the shoulder blades back and pull the band apart as you bring
your arms backward and let the band stretch across your
chest.
Finally, a stretch we call the pat down: get near a wall and put
the hands against it overhead like youre getting searched by
an arresting officer. Keeping the abs tight to prevent
hyperextension of the back, push your chest down and back
from the wall to open the shoulders. Instead of just pushing,
thinking of pulling down away from the hands as well.
Spine/Trunk
While I like the standing rotations a bit more than iron crosses,
they cant do what the scorpion can do for the hip flexors.
Lying on your stomach with the arms out to the sides, bend
one leg and bring the foot to the opposite hand. Activate the
glutes as you do this to keep the lower back from
hyperextending and to help relax the hip flexors and allow
them to stretch.
Hip Flexors/Quads
Leg swings forward and backward are very basic but effective.
The back swing will loosen up the quads and hip flexors if
done properly: keep the knee close to the other leg and try to
close the knee entirely while getting the knee behind the hip.
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
like having some kind of lunge used daily not only for this Login | Register
reason but also because of the glute activation and hip
stability elements. Basic walking lunges are the simplest, but
to this Ill usually add either a rotation of the trunk or lateral
trunk flexion toward the lead leg at the bottom of the lunge to
further stretch the hip flexors.
Hip Extensors/Adductors
The bow and bend is again the most basic here but also
effective. Bend at the hips with the knees slightly unlocked
and reach to the floor, then return to the top and use the
glutes to push the hips forward as you lean back. The back
can round as you reach down, but dont let it complete the
whole movementmake sure the hips are hinging so youre
stretching the hamstrings. This will hit the hip flexors quite well
also as long as you get the hips through with tight glutes.
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
Lunge variations will do some stretching of the lead leg Login | Register
hamstrings, adductors and glutes. The forward and backward
leg swings mentioned above will hit the hamstrings on the
forward swing. Lock in the pelvis as you swingletting the
hips rock back simply allows the lower back to flex rather than
keeping the swing to the hip joint. Side leg swings will hit the
adductors on the outward swing and some lateral hip, TFL and
ITB on the inward swing. Lean forward slightly to lean against
a wall or pole and swing one leg across yourself and then
back out to the side. Let the toe point up at each side.
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
spread the hips, not the knees. You can hold this bottom Login | Register
position for a while, or you can periodically move the hips up
slightly and re-settle.
Knees
The knees should get pretty warm with the above drills, but
focus work can be done if desired. Simple squats are a good
place to start. To these, you can add some knee rotations in
the bottom position, which will also help the hips and ankles.
In the bottom of the squat, put the hands on the knees and
move the hips up and down slightly as you push the knees in
small circles each direction.
Ankles/Calves
Ankle circles in the standing position with the toe on the floor
are quick and simple, and you can also add some heel-toe
walking to other warm-up drills to sneak in some ankle work.
Putting it Together
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
group warm-up done here in 12-15 minutes at a steady but not Login | Register
rushing pace. An example series might look like:
Static Stretching
Corrective Drills
This would now be the time to perform any remedial work you
want to place before the workout. The individual is warm and
the muscles and joints prepared to perform exercises safely
and effectively. Examples would be glute activation drills like
bridges, clamshells and X-band walks or shoulder prep/pre-
hab work like band external and internal rotations, abduction,
etc., or stability exercises like Turkish get-ups. These are drills
that will either help the athlete or client perform safely or
properly in training, or are elements deemed important enough
to warrant the focus and energy only available at the
beginning of the training session.
Try It
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
dont feel like spending a few more minutes getting reading. Login | Register
Youre not a wild animal being chased without warning in the
jungleyoure an athlete getting ready to train in the gym.
You can find a collection of warm-up, corrective and
preparatory work videos here.
Greg Everett is the owner of Catalyst Athletics, head coach of the USA Weightlifting
National Champion team Catalyst Athletics, author of the books Olympic Weightlifting:
A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches and Olympic Weightlifting for Sports,
director/writer/producer/editor/everything of the documentary American
Weightlifting, co-host of the Weightlifting Life Podcast, publisher of The Performance
Menu journal, fth-place nisher at the USAW National Championships, masters
national champion, masters American Open champion, masters American record
holder in the clean & jerk, and Olympic Trials coach. Follow him on Facebook here and
and sign up for his free newsletter here.
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20 Comments
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It seems like you guys are great out there, :) keep up the good work.
Jocelyn 2011-11-09
For real! Great article Greg.
Sonny 2011-11-15
Greg,
This is a fantastic article, and one that is needed. As a successful user
of your on-line programs, as well as a Really Good Exerciser, I have
found many of the principles you talk about to be useful. I also learned
a bunch in the article that I can't wait to try out. The one aspect of
"warm-up" I've found most useful for me is joint preparation. There are
many versions of this I see in gyms, but I've found one I like. The
"least" effective for me has been static stretching. The concept of
stretching is valid, but I have found that movement, like jump rope, or
rowing, followed by the joint prep through a fairly exhausting 10-20
minutes focus of all joints is adequate. Thanks for being so awesome!
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09/11/2017 Catalyst Athletics: Our Warm-up is a Warm-up by Greg Everett - Mobility & Training Preparation - Catalyst Athletics - Olympic Weightlifting
Great article Greg! I have heard of "activation work" for years, but I am
not sure I fully understand the mechanism. Are the motor units actually
not firing, not firing well, not all firing, not coordinating? Thanks!
Luigi 2011-11-23
Very good article! Some clients get to me so sedentary that this would
pretty much be their entire workout! Thanks for the insights.
I have found that the warm-up I follow in BJJ tends to transfer over
pretty well for a basic pre met-con warm-up. For weightlifting days, I
like to keep the warm-up movements closely related to the lift in
question.
Cheers, Adam.
CPP 2011-12-08
Thanks Greg--I'm not an Olympic lifter by practice but have followed the
warm-up routine in your book for awhile after many prior years of
chronic disregard of proper warm-up. Simple, efficent and has made a
difference for me.
Thanks again
Chris 2011-12-08
Great stuff and it REALLY warms the body for quite frankly most
activities.
THANKS!!
Is there a reason why there isn't any warm up for the neck e.g. head
rolling, head side stretch etc?
Thanks
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Greg Everett 2012-01-20
Chris - Not really other than that typically people will do some neck
work if they have a need for it. If you're doing something like BJJ,
wrestling, etc or have an existing neck issue, you probably have some
good neck protocols on hand.
Alex 2013-12-03
Could you guys provide examples on how to foam roll are a good
routine? Thanks.
Drew 2014-02-26
Coming from a cubicle monkey, this is the best warmup I've
experimented with so far
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Ryan DeBell
Seattle
Good stuff
Like Reply Jul 25, 2014 5:43am
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