“Warm up before you begin vigorous exercise” is standard advice that almost everyone has followed for decades—and it is still good advice today. At 1TO1, and other advanced training facilities, we aim to make the “warm up” much more productive through effective Movement Preparation.
What does Movement Prep mean, and what led us to this term?
The age-old reasons we have always warmed up are still valid today: gradually increasing heart and respiration rates, raising body temperature, increasing tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) elasticity, enhancing joint motion, etc. These changes can contribute to better performance and may reduce injury risk. Fitness enthusiasts and athletes have always exercised to improve various aspects of physical fitness—lose body fat, gain strength, power, endurance, flexibility, etc. At 1TO1, a critically important additional objective of all our clients’ training is to improve their Movement Quality. By improving movement quality, training can be safer, more efficient, and more effective, and performance in the gym, on the field, or throughout the day can be enhanced. Effective Movement Prep is one way we can help prepare our bodies to move well—more safely, efficiently, and effectively—before we begin training or competing.
The human body is amazing. It can find ways to accomplish tasks or movements despite various injuries, deficiencies, nervous system inhibitions, etc., through compensations and substitutions. For example, the quadriceps muscles are some of the primary muscles involved in gait (walking and running). However, if someone has completely torn her quadriceps, she could still potentially find a way to walk or run, perhaps through greater use of her hip flexors, hamstrings, or calves, or more likely through a complex compensatory effort involving her entire body, momentum, gravity, etc. While this is a very impressive and valuable ability our bodies have, we can sometimes rely on this ability to accomplish the task at hand instead of recognizing that we have a movement restriction or limitation that we may be able to improve or correct. Over time, repeatedly accomplishing movements through compensation or substitution patterns can contribute to inefficient movement and may increase stress on other tissues.
A completely torn quadriceps is an extreme example, and unless in a true emergency, no one would attempt to walk or run with such an injury. However, almost everyone has more subtle restrictions that they may be unaware of and train through. Watch any road race (5K, 10K, Marathon) and you will see runners, even some who lead the pack, who seem to have poor form—maybe bad posture, uneven symmetry, loud landings, feet pointing in odd directions, knees buckling in or bowing, etc. Observe weightlifters in a big-box gym, even ones who are very big and strong, and you will see people executing lifts with poor form, unsafe back positions, limited ranges of motion, misaligned joints, etc. Often these runners or weightlifters will continue to put in more miles or load on more weight in their efforts to progress, without addressing the underlying movement issues. Eventually, some may develop pain or injury. However, if these exercisers regularly implemented effective Movement Preparation techniques, they might improve their posture, grace, alignment, range of motion, form, technique, etc. (all elements of movement quality), and potentially make greater gains in speed or strength while reducing unnecessary stress on the body.
Movement Prep can be implemented generically or specifically. For example, when we train our high school sports teams, we may have ten to twenty student athletes show up for conditioning after sitting in class all day with spines flexed, hamstrings and hip flexors shortened, shoulders rounded, forward head posture, etc. Our general movement prep for the group might include foam rolling and stretching these shortened tissues, along with neuromuscular activation exercises for areas that have been relatively dormant throughout the day. With our one-on-one personal training clients, we can individually assess their posture, gait, flexibility, and movement mechanics and implement techniques specifically selected to address any restrictions or movement deficiencies we observe.
Some common techniques that we use at 1TO1 during the Movement Preparation phase of our workouts include foam rolling, massage sticks, static and dynamic stretching, Egoscue “e-cises” (from the Egoscue Method), among others.
Effective Movement Prep goes well beyond simply warming up…it is designed to address potential impediments to effective, quality movement.