Use this dynamic warm-up routine before starting any in-season strength session to get you primed for the workout to come. When you’re ready, jump into the appropriate workout week below. These sessions should be incorporated into your training plan twice a week, except for the Race Week workout, or for athletes who are not currently strength training, in which case these can be done once a week.
Exercises
Walking Cycling Lunge: 2 sets of 8-10 steps each side
Standing Hip Range of Motion: 2 sets of 8-10 repetitions each side
Squat Stretch & Reach: 2 sets of 5-6 repetitions each side
Knee Taps/Hip Internal Rotation: 2 sets of 4-5 each side
Lateral Lunge: 2 sets of 4-5 each side
Lunge Stretch & Reach: 2 sets of 4-5 each side
Standing Snow Angels: 2 sets of 4-5 repetitions
Speed Skater Circles: 2 sets of 3-4 repetitions each side
Progressions and regressions
If any of these movements are new to you or you are unsure of the proper form, start slower than you think you need to. Slowing the movements down will help to keep you safe while learning how to move well. To regress further, any movements that require balance can be completed with one hand holding onto a stable surface (handrail, wall, etc.) to give additional support.
Pitfalls and warnings
The main pitfall for this dynamic warm-up is over-stretching or pushing your range of motion too far. If you overdo it, you will feel it as there may be pain following the workout or in the subsequent days. If you’re unsure, start slower than you think you need!
Once you’re all warmed up, jump into the workout!
In-Season Strength: Normal Week
In-Season Strength: Recovery Week
In-Season Strength: Post-Race Week
Video Transcript
Ryan Kohler 0:01
This is our dynamic warm-up routine for the in-season strength training series. You should always start with some kind of dynamic warm-up before getting into your strength training because it helps to elevate heart rate, get the body moving through a full range of motion, and generally just helps you better prepare to go through the exercises to come. So let’s get started.
0:18
We’ll get started here with what I call a Walking Cycling Lunge. So this is going to be your normal lunge, where you’re stepping forward and dropping those hips straight down, but the trailing leg is going to come up and mimic more of a cycling motion. So it might go a little higher than normal as we bring it through and to the front, so hits those hip flexors a little bit more. So we’ll take that down for about 8 to 10 steps, back to the other side about 8 to 10 steps, and then move on to the next one.
0:48
Next is a Standing Hip Range of Motion. So for this one, we’ll stand in place and we’ll do some repetitions forward and back on each side. Then we’ll go side to side. And finally, we’ll bring our knees up and do internal and external rotation as well on both sides.
1:09
Then next we’ll get into the Squat Stretch with a Reach. So for this one, we’re gonna squat ourselves down all the way to the bottom. I like to tuck one hand under my tail on the left side. And then I’m gonna reach back as far as I can, come back and do it on the other side. And then repeat.
1:28
So then from here, we can stay in that position, I just like to come up onto my toes. And this one, we’re going to do some Knee Taps that are going to help you internally rotate and open the hips up. So we’re just going to come down and tap a knee here, tap another one here, and then repeat.
1:48
Next, from there, we can come back up and get ourselves into a lunge position for a Lateral Lunge. This one, we’re going to focus on bringing the hips right over the rear foot, come down, and then back up, and we’ll move to the other side. You can make this a little bit harder by lifting up that toe and then coming back up.
2:11
And then from here, you can go right into a Lunge Stretch, where we’ll just rotate to one side, get ourselves in this lunge position. We’ll drop down, have our outside hand down, and we’ll just reach up to the ceiling here. And then do the same thing on this side. Come up and repeat on the other side.
2:40
Next one I’m gonna call Standing Snow Angels. So we’ll come back up to our standing position. We’ll bring our arms out here, kind of like we’re making snow angels in the snow but we’ll bend our elbows, and we’re just gonna press them up to the ceiling. The whole time we’re driving the elbows as far back as we can.
2:57
And then finally, we’re going to finish up with speed skaters. So this movement generally starts where we hop from one foot to the other. We’re going to change it up a little bit where you’re going to hop, land, and then tap this back foot, staying in that lunge position, and just trace that foot around. A little bit of balance, a little bit of muscular activation here, and then once you’re back, pop over to the other side and repeat.
3:40
Okay, that’ll do it for our dynamic warm-up. This whole session should take about 8 to 10 minutes to complete, and when you’re done, you’ll be ready to go. This is an ideal warm-up for the workouts to come.
