The Crossover Primer— “The Formula for Success”
There are 2 pitfalls that often plague warm-up programs.
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Too Little- Every warm-up should check the neurological and physiological needs to be maximally effective (we talk more about that here: The Must-Haves for Any Warm-Up). A 5 minute run with some squats and push-ups leaves out a ton of benefits that could be achieved by doing just a little bit more.
- Too Much- Too much complexity can be just as detrimental as not doing enough. First of all, throwing in a laundry list of exercises takes away from precious training and practice time. Secondly, an overly complicated warm-up is less likely to get done, therefore limiting the results. Lastly, gathering and setting up equipment, and then the time to learn new exercises, is often at the detriment of getting hot and getting moving.
Specific to the Crossover Primer, it’s designed it to get the body ready to go, while solving common movement impairments, in a way that’s easy to fit into an everyday training program.
It’s the ultimate solution to getting your body ready, along with a daily dosage of movement needed for a lifetime of health and performance.
The Crossover Primer
1. Get Warm
If your warm-up isn’t getting you sweaty you are missing out on easy performance gains. Getting hot improves metabolism, muscle contraction, and joint mobility. If it’s the middle of the summer this won’t be a problem, but even if it’s slightly cool or you are going to be indoors, start by throwing on a hoodie while going to the gym or field and keep it on as you progress through the remainder of the CS Primer.
(Note- Becoming overheated is detrimental to performance, especially for longer endurance events, so take off your warm-up attire as you start to get sweaty).
2. Increase Blood Flow
Start the Crossover Primer with some light aerobic work. Getting the blood flowing will help wake up the body and further support the warming phase.
It doesn’t have to be running or biking either. Take this opportunity to improve your athleticism with activities like speed ladders, running football routes, shooting hoops, jump rope practice, and other fun movement things. These activities will make you a better athlete and aren’t all that boring, so throw on a hoodie and start playing.
3. Muscle Activation
Muscles don't necessarily need to be turned out, but starting with basic movements is the best way to quickly improve mobility and adds some training for the smaller muscle groups.
- CS Shoulder- 1 set of 7 exercises to improve shoulder movement.
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CS Hip and Core- 1 set of 8 exercises to engage the many stabilizers of the hip and core.
Go to The Training Zone for Video Instruction on both of these programs.
4. Dynamic Warm-Up
Everything to this point is a generalized plan to optimize movement for any sport or activity. It’s this foundation that will yield the most benefit long term, but will also have movement primed for the remainder of the training session. What’s best is that it can be done in less than 10 minutes if needed.
Moving forward it’s time to ramp-up into progressively more specialized movements for the activity at hand. If you are short on time or ready to get training, not a problem your body should be ready to go! Simply jump to step 5 to fast track the process.
(This is a good time to build in any favorite exercises for your specific activity. The examples below are specific to someone before they hit the weights.)
1. Mobility- Move through sport specific ranges of motion.
(Example- Wrist and Ankle Stretches, Lunge Matrix, Down Dog to Cobra, Thoracic Bridge.)
2. Speed- Turn on power and speed in different directions.
(Example- side shuffle, power skip, back peddle, carioca, high knees, butt kicks)
3. Ignite– Rev the engines by ramping up the intensity to 100%
(Example- 3 short sprints building in intensity, or 3 sets of 10 squat jumps)
4. Sport Specific Progression- A short time to practice movements that support the success in that activity.
(Example- Burgener Warm-Up; CompTrain Barbell Warm-Up: 5 Reps of Good-mornings, Back Squats, Elbow Rotations, Press, Straight Leg Deadlift, and Front Squats; CrossFit Warm-Up: Samson Stretch, Overhead Squat, Sit Up, Back Extension, Dips, Pull Ups.)
5. Ramp Up– Get into the main workout things for the day but with a modified load.
(Example- If you’re doing back squats, do a few sets building up to the working weight.
Getting Started
Like a recipe for your favorite dish, this will soon become second nature as a way to get your body ready. And feel free to adjust to suit your preferences.
To get started, pick up the Crossover Primer package here: Crossover Primer Package
Included are all of the tools, training, and education you will need to implement a perfect prep strategy for your everyday training.