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Skills: Warms Ups & Cooling Downs

Warm Ups and Cool Downs

·                    A warm up is a group of exercises performed immediately before activity that helps the body to adjust from a state of rest to a state of exercise.

·                    Why Warm-up?

Þ                Prepare the mind and body for activity;

Þ                Help prevent injury; and

Þ                Help improve performance.

·                    This involves preparing the following different body systems:

Þ                The cardiovascular system - heart, lungs, blood vessels;

Þ                The muscles - skeletal system - bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, connective tissue; and

Þ                The neuro-muscular system - the brain - body link.

·                    What should be in a warm-up?

Þ                Mobility exercises;

Þ                Aerobic exercises

Þ                Stretching;

Þ                Activity related movements to prepare the neuro-muscular system; and

Þ                mental training exercises - optimum arousal, positive thinking, imaginary, goal setting.

·                    The warm up should include:

Þ                physical exercise such as light jogging with a change of pace;

Þ                stretching of calf, hamstring, thigh, arms, shoulders, lower back and neck;

Þ                some stick and ball exercises to become familiar with the feel of the stick and to grow accustom to seeing the ball

·                    Each coaching session must have time allowed for warming up before the session and warming down at the end of the session.

·                    Warm-ups will vary considerably with the age and the level of the players, but all players should do the warm-up and should understand the necessity of doing it.

Cooling Down

·                    All players should cool-down after playing or taking part in a coaching session..

·                    Why cool-down?

Þ                Return the body and mind to resting state;

Þ                Increase flexibility;

Þ                Relaxation;

Þ                Minimising post exercise stiffness and soreness.

·                    What should be in a cool-down?

Þ                Pulse lowering

Þ                Stretching exercises

Þ                Relaxation and positive thinking.

·                    As with warm-ups, cool-downs will vary considerably with the age and the level of the players, but all players should do the warm-up and should understand the necessity of doing it.

Flexibility and Stretching

Flexibility is possibly the most neglected and undervalued component of physical fitness. A lack of flexibility can be a cause of poor performance, inefficient technique. It can hinder speed and endurance, as well as a cause for strain and tear type injuries found in hockey.

Safety is of the utmost importance when stretching on your own. Static Stretching involves slow sustained muscle lengthening, which can be used before exercise to prevent injury, after exercise to facilitate recovery and can also be used to increase the range of movement.

Points to consider:

Þ                Always warm up prior to stretching. Gentle jogging is sufficient.

Þ                Move into a stretch position until you feel slight tension not seething pain!!!!

Þ                Relax throughout.

Þ                Do not hold your breath.

Þ                Hold each stretch for 10 seconds during pre-exercise and 20 - 30 seconds post-exercise.

Summary of the Effects of Warming Up and Cooling Down

HELPFUL HINTS:

1.                  The examples in this section of the manual provide some variations to make the process of warming up or cooling down a bit more fun.

2.                  Section also include some examples devised by Bram von Assem to improve the ability of players to run.

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