Many a time i have witnessed sports men and women even young children warming up using static stretching before a training session or any form of exercise. If conducted poorly this can have very serious implications to an athlete especially if a vigorous an-aerobic training session is to follow.i.e sprints or any sort of intense running.
One problem is simply this; imagine your muscles to be like a length of clay or Plasticine. If you try to pull it apart when it is cold (Static Stretching) it will do one thing and one thing only, and that is to tare or even snap! Causing serious injury.
If it is warm and you try to break it this will become virtually impossible as it will simply elongate as you stretch it.This is exactly the same as what happens to a muscle. So the way that i always coach a warm up for all sports is to use light psychometric movement. SAQ Warm-up! (Speed Agility Quickness)
Simply start from the ankles rolling them in a circle for a couple of times, and then we simply work all the way from our toes to your calves’ thighs and through your torso up to your head.
Light Hop skips and bounding movements are a much more effective way to warm up correctly and avoid serious injury. It is also great fun especially for children. This warm up can take anything from 15 to 30 minutes to complete successfully. Children naturally use psychometric in play so it won’t be a new activity for them to learn.