Daily and Warm Up Exercises to better manage tightness and fatigue- Are you doing enough?

 

Many of us train 3 – 5 times a week with the main focus being on performance development or training towards a race etc. but we also need to focus on maintaining our body’s ability to do these sessions as well as can.  That means good preparation and maintenance work. 

I’ve put together a blend of exercises for this purpose that can be done on a daily basis for better movement but using the same format you can also warm up better for the sessions that you do! 

 

I’ve broken the exercises down in 4 easy sections so that you can swap in and out similar exercises but maintain the overall format  

  

Fascial Lines Stretching 

 

Maximise Mobility – Joint distraction  

 

Upgrade Stability 

 

Power Up the big gums  

 

Fascial Lines Stretching 

One of the biggest mistakes I see athletes, particularly recreational athletes, make is not spending enough time on recovery. Recovery includes things like sleep, nutrition and soft tissue work. Sure, we don’t have personal massage therapists available like the pros do but we can get some relaxation into our soft tissues quicker than you think. 

Soft tissue work might not feel all that crucial, but it can significantly decrease soreness and help prevent muscular imbalances. In the long-term, soft tissue work will help you prevent those nagging injuries (such as a tight shoulder or hip) that many former athletes are forced to deal with later in life. There is a price for training and playing competitive sports. You need to take care of your body early and often. 

A quick way to get through more stretching is to stretch the fascia rather than the muscles. Fascia forms a whole-body, continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support around our organs, muscles, joints, bones and nerve fibres. No muscle works in isolation and what connects them is our fascia.

Spend 2  – 3 mins in the stretch with slow breathing to help relax 

 

Joint mobility  

Muscle flexibility only accounts for 20% of our ability to move well. How mobilise our joints are is much more important. When you start to lose mobility, that is when compensations begin to creep in, leading to impaired performance, tightness and niggles in the morning and a higher risk of injury. Taking just a couple minutes out of your day to focus on mobility can have a huge impact on your body. 

 Spend approx. 1.5 – 2 mins on each side 

Integrate Stability  

Being able to stabilize in an ever-changing environment will allow you to react quickly, create more force and prevent injury. The other great thing about stability drills is they are not very muscularly and neurologically fatiguing, which means you can do them more frequently without them affecting your performance. 

 Spend approx. 30 – 45s on each side 

Power Up 

The key to performance is the ability to produce power. You should move explosively every day so that the ability to produce power is almost 2nd nature. If you focus these efforts based on what is required for your daily sessions then the body 

Do 2 sets of 4 -6 reps –

Session Format	Daily	Pre-run	Pre-bike	Pre-golf
Fascial Stretching    3 mins	Posterior Chain + rotation    TRX Spiral Stretch	Posterior Chain + rotation    TRX Front Line	TRX Spiral Stretch    TRX Superficial Backline stretch	TRX Side Wiper    TRX Upper Body Separartion
Maximise Mobility    2 mins	Ankle Distraction    Hip + Torso Rotation	Ankle Distraction    Banded Calf Raise Heel to toe	Hip + Torso Rotation    TRX Lunge to Overhead Stretch	Hip + Torso Rotation    TRX Backhand Lunge
Initiate and integrate stability    90s	SL Med Ball Lateral Throw	Runners Pallof Press     Resisted Running Tech	Glute and Core Walk	SL Med Ball Lateral Throw
Power Primers    2 x 4-6 reps	Plank Push Up    Med Bal Long Jump & Chest Pass	Pendulum Squat Jumps    Box Blast Alternating	Squat to DL    Top Down DL D&C	Plank Squat     Hip Rotation and Med Ball Throw