Quick Sprint Warm-up
Quick Sprint Warm-up
We got a message in the Team Forever Strong private forum asking about sprinting after 40 years old. I immediately thought of the legendary CPPS workout of the month – The Hill. The Hill was the exact sprint warm-up and workout series used for Joe D.’s NFL crew. While the training group in the series were elite athletes, The Hill warm-up should be utilized for all lifters and athletes who are trying to re-introduce sprints into their workouts – especially after a long layoff.
The Hill warm-up is comprehensive and works across the entire kinetic chain focusing on the stability/mobility of the ankles, knees, and hips. The other aspect of the warm-up is that it follows the CPPS Warm-up Template of moving from ‘simple to complex,’ ‘ground-based to standing,’ and ‘slow to fast.’
These warm-up pillars are important for slowly ramping up the excitation of the CNS while increasing the lifter’s/athlete’s core temperature. In addition, practicing the cadence of jogging, sprinting, and skipping will engrain the connection and force transfer between the lower body and upper body across a stable midline.
Here is The Hill warm-up:
PRE-SPRINT WARM-UP
- Foam Rolling Full Body – 15-20 min
- Heel Walks x 20 yards down & back
- Bodyweight Squats x 10 reps
- Squat-to-Stand x 5 reps
- A-Skips x 20 yards down & back
- Cossack Squats x 5 each side
- Backward Cycle x 20 yards down & back
- Pogo Jumps (LOW) x 10 sec
- Pogo Jumps (HIGH) x 15 sec
- Jog x 20 yards down & back
- Glute Stretch x 30-60sec. each leg
- Super Birddogs x 10 each leg
- Rocking Frog Stretch x 10 reps
- Inside Leg Raise x 10 reps each leg
- Prone Scorpion x 10 reps each side
- Seated Straight Leg Raises x 10 reps each leg
- Rollovers into V-sits x 10 reps
- Ankling x 5 yards “on”, 5 yards “off” x 2
TEAM FOREVER STRONG – To watch the full pre-sprint warm-up in action (and to get your workouts delivered right to your phone every single day – Join Team Forever Strong today!
SPRINTING FOR OLDER LIFTERS/ATHLETES
In addition to the comprehensive warm-up above, here are some pro coaching tips that have worked for me and my athletes over the last 29 years. If you’re over 40 (or older OR even younger) you have to prepare to sprint properly. I would not neglect the Achilles tendon. If you have a hill, walk backwards down the hill to dynamically and eccentric load the Achilles in preparation for sprinting. You can vary the length of your stride to also eccentrically load the hip flexors. Once at the bottom, you will then back up the hill backwards. Now the focus is to improve the stability of the knees and activate the quads.
Finally, you do not want to simply go from zero to 100% when starting to sprint again. Start with tempo runs (or power skips) where you’re running at 50% effort for shorter distances – i.e., 10-20 yards. The foundation for sprinting is built with lower intensity (ramped up slowly with focused effort and precise cadence) across shorter distances. Introduce a slow progression each week until you’re ready for all-out sprints. Finally, recovery and maintenance between sprint sessions becomes critical as your training/sporting age progresses.
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