Warming up is one of the most important aspects to the sport of soccer, yet it is often misunderstood. A proper warm up will prepare the body for the upcoming activity as well as improve athleticism. The components found in the warm up will transfer to the speed mechanics, posture, strength and power of an athlete. Take the time at the beginning of your practice to warm up your athletes the proper way.

The warm up consists of four different phases: general warm up, mobility, dynamic flexibility and high speed. Each component addresses specific areas that are of vital importance to an athlete. We will look at each individual component and the rationale behind its purpose.

General Warm Up: The general warm up is designed to increase the blood flow to the muscles, heart rate, body temperature and joint lubrication. The exercises in this phase consist of light jogging, various skipping movements (forward, backward, lateral and power skips), high knees, carioca, side shuffles and backpedaling. These drills are typically performed for 10-20m for a specific number of times. The movement used in this part of the warm up will reinforce proper running mechanics and posture. Make sure your athletes stand tall with their shoulder blades together and the low back slightly arched. They should maintain an athletic position at all times.

Backward Run

Skipping Form

Mobility: Mobility drills are used to improve the range of motion around the athlete’s hip joint. Mobile hips are necessary for athleticism and should be specifically addressed during the warm up. The muscle groups we want to focus on are the hip flexors, hamstrings, gluteals and the spinal erectors. The exercises include: Leg swings (both lateral and forward/backward), iron crosses, scorpions, spidermans, inchworms and hurdle walks.

Spiderman Iron Cross Scorpion

Dynamic Flexibility: Dynamic flexibility drills improve range of motion during movement and in a sport-specific pattern. The exercises mimic many of the movements athletes use on the field. Make sure each athlete uses an athletic position and maintains proper position. The exercises include: straight-leg lunges, high kicks, sumo squats and knee hugs

High Kicks Straight Leg Lunge

High Speed: The high speed drills are used to fire up an athlete’s nervous system. Most teams cannot afford to have an athlete use time in a game to get up to speed. The high speed drills promote rapid contractions of the muscles and prepare an athlete’s reaction time, concentration and focus. High speed activity will have an athlete ready to compete at their highest level when the whistle blows. The exercises include: lateral line hops, forward/backward line hops and crossover hops. Ladder drills may also be used during this segment of the warm up.

Sample Warm Up
General
Forward Skips 15m
Backward Skips 15m
High Knees 15m
Heel Ups 15m
Side Shuffle 15m each way
Carioca 15m each way
Backpedal 15m

Mobility
Forward Hurdle Walk 15m
Spiderman 15m
Inchworm 15m
Iron Cross 10 each side
Scorpion 10 each side

Dynamic Flexibility
Knee Hugs 15m
Sumo Squats 15m
Straight Leg Lunges 15m
High Kicks 15m

High Speed
Lateral Hops 2 x 30s
Forward/Backward Hops 2 x 30s