In order to maximise the warm up process we utilise the RMAP process - and we do this before each session, on land, and we can then take it with us to competitions and do it before we race, ensuring we are primed and ready to go fast! But what is RMAP...
Raise the body temperature, Mobilise and Activate the body, joints and muscles Potentiate (prime, get ready) the key muscle groups
Seems simple enough - so how exactly does it work?
R - this can be any activity that raises the heart rate and body temperature: skipping, jogging on spot, dynamic stretching, body weight squats/push ups for those more advanced... The key here is to get the slight layer of sweat on the backs of the hands and the upper lip - at this point the muscles should be the right temperature to be worked dynamically! 3 minutes is a good guide... try 20 seconds high knees jogging on the spot, 20 seconds rest and go 4x through, see if you get a little sweat on!
MA - this is the time to work on mobilising and activating the main muscle groups/joints etc that will be used during the activity - as we are looking at swimming that kind of gives us free reign on exercise selection because we are doing a full body sport. There will be areas such as the shoulders that are used more predominantly and which should be included in all mobility sections pre swim, otherwise focus on areas of weakness or include a variety so that from session to session all areas are covered at least once. 2-3 sets of 4 quality repetitions over 4 different exercises works well, or you could try a 5 in 5 combo - 5 exercises (45 seconds on, 15 seconds off) in 5 minutes for really covering all bases!
P - time to get the body primed and prepped and ready to swim fast. Explosive actions such as squat jumps (being very careful if on deck), power push ups, medicine ball slams, fast band work or even taking to the starting blocks and performing some 15m sprints is a great way of switching everything full on (the latter ideal at the start of any competition for working pool familiarisation, but dry side actions will be required and should;d be practiced also for when a block isn't available prior to a race!) Again here I like 2-3 sets of 4 repetitions... Give a small circuit a go: 4x squat jumps, 4x medi ball slams, 20 seconds fast band swimmers, rest a while and repeat, that'll get you cooking!
In total a good quality RAMP warm up will take approximately 10 minutes and it can be tweaked to take more or less time depending on the stage of proximity to your race.
Raise the body temperature, Mobilise and Activate the body, joints and muscles Potentiate (prime, get ready) the key muscle groups
Seems simple enough - so how exactly does it work?
R - this can be any activity that raises the heart rate and body temperature: skipping, jogging on spot, dynamic stretching, body weight squats/push ups for those more advanced... The key here is to get the slight layer of sweat on the backs of the hands and the upper lip - at this point the muscles should be the right temperature to be worked dynamically! 3 minutes is a good guide... try 20 seconds high knees jogging on the spot, 20 seconds rest and go 4x through, see if you get a little sweat on!
MA - this is the time to work on mobilising and activating the main muscle groups/joints etc that will be used during the activity - as we are looking at swimming that kind of gives us free reign on exercise selection because we are doing a full body sport. There will be areas such as the shoulders that are used more predominantly and which should be included in all mobility sections pre swim, otherwise focus on areas of weakness or include a variety so that from session to session all areas are covered at least once. 2-3 sets of 4 quality repetitions over 4 different exercises works well, or you could try a 5 in 5 combo - 5 exercises (45 seconds on, 15 seconds off) in 5 minutes for really covering all bases!
P - time to get the body primed and prepped and ready to swim fast. Explosive actions such as squat jumps (being very careful if on deck), power push ups, medicine ball slams, fast band work or even taking to the starting blocks and performing some 15m sprints is a great way of switching everything full on (the latter ideal at the start of any competition for working pool familiarisation, but dry side actions will be required and should;d be practiced also for when a block isn't available prior to a race!) Again here I like 2-3 sets of 4 repetitions... Give a small circuit a go: 4x squat jumps, 4x medi ball slams, 20 seconds fast band swimmers, rest a while and repeat, that'll get you cooking!
In total a good quality RAMP warm up will take approximately 10 minutes and it can be tweaked to take more or less time depending on the stage of proximity to your race.
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