Why You Need a Multi-Directional Warm-Up
“Why Do I Need to Warm Up"
This seems like a simple question, with an even simpler answer. But it's a question I get from many of the younger players with whom I work. Quite often, when asked this, I don't dive into “the weeds” and I keep the answer simple. – “It's good for you and helps you get ready for the game or practice.”
“What if I just jog and do a little core, am I good then?”
“No. Move in every direction, it will help you prepare.”
While these are simplistic answers, the reasoning behind opting for multi-directional warmups is multifaceted, and when utilized properly, it can be a valuable teaching tool, an important bridge between training and the ice, and a good way to expand your movement toolbox.
What Is Multi-Directional Movement?
By multi-directional we mean moving in a combination of all three planes of motion: Forward and backward (sagittal), side to side (frontal), and rotation (transverse). In hockey, you have to move in all three, so when we're preparing to play, we want to do the same.
Incorporating movements in different planes of motion isn't a new idea in the field of Strength and Conditioning. Systems such as 3-D maps from the Gray Institute and tools like contralateral circuits can be found across the country in different training environments. They can be used for assessment purposes and general physical preparation foundational programming, but outside of keeping training interesting for the athlete, what role do they play?
I've found that multi-directional movement is a great tool for preparing an athlete for movements they will experience on the ice. They can help to improve tissue tolerance within planes they don't see (or haven't seen in while) and are applicable as a teaching tool for loaded patterns.
Movements on the ice vs. in the gym: We can't match the intensity of a game in the weight room. A lateral bound will never be done at the same intensity as skating for a puck against an opponent. But, if a player is going to see a movement at its highest intensity, why not expose them to it at lower intensities?
Take this image of Drew Doughty. Taken during a game vs. the Blues, you have him mid-stride, chasing a puck, most likely entering the zone. So if this is the ceiling- the highest intensity iteration of this movement - what is the floor? Does it have to be done the ice? In my opinion, no. We can build out this movement in the gym.
Maybe it is a cross under lunge at the start of the training session. You can quickly see side to side if there are major discrepancies, what their range of motion is, and where they create movement. With this movement, you are checking a number of multi-directional boxes. You are working hip internal/external rotation, spinal flexion, ankle dorsiflexion and that is without changing anything at the shoulder, neck, or foot. The point is, you as a coach can expose your athletes to the movements they will see in season without having to get them on the ice.
Multi-Directional Dosing
Barring this year, each off-season follows a similar pattern.
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General physical preparation (Start of the summer)
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Higher intensity general movements (Mid-summer)
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Higher intensity sport-specific movements (End of summer)
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The season.
While this might not be exactly what your off-season looks like, for simplicity's sake, we move from general to specific as we progress toward the season. During this progression, one effective means of introducing new movement patterns into training is through the warmup. For example, the process of skating creates a high amount of physical stress on the hip girdle and the adductor complex. Rather than having each player hop on the ice and just start skating, utilize lower intensity frontal plane movements throughout the warmup to activate various muscle groups and improve tissue tolerance.
These could include
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Lateral Lunging
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Shuffling
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Lateral Hops
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SL Lateral Hops
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Lateral skipping
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Bounding
As you get closer to the season, the intensity (distance, height, or intent) of the movement could increase to the point of readiness for the action of skating. Each of these movements could be used in a warmup at any point in an off-season. At the start of the summer, you are just shuffling and doing lateral hops. As you get further into the off-season, you are adding volume or intensity to those movements. Shuffling has progressed to competitive races, shuffling from one spot to another, and the lateral hops have progressed to lateral hurdle hops or leaps.
How you progress each movement over the course of a program will depend on what you want to achieve, but your warmup gives you the opportunity to expand the players' movement experience to best prepare them for competition.
Teaching Loaded Patterns:
“Quality will determine the quantity.”
Adding multi-directional movements into the warmup gives you the opportunity to build on your “toolbox” when it comes to loading or intensifying movements in your programming. As discussed in the last point, movements in the warmup can (and should) be built upon. The foundational movements are your floor. If you want to get to a point where you can load up multi-directional lunging patterns, you must introduce them in the warmup. This not only gives you an opportunity to show the player how you want a movement executed, but it gives them multiple chances to improve on it.
Training age is a major factor to consider in our field. We have athletes who are 18 walking through the door with no experience in a weight room, all the way to athletes who have spent their entire adult life training and playing their sport. While movements like the squat and deadlift will be staples of a training program, incorporating multi-directional movements into your program expands on the options you have throughout the course of a training program and season.
In the end, how you integrate movements into your program and progress them will vary based on your own circumstances. Addressing multi-directional movements within your warmups is a beneficial way to prepare athletes for the movements they will experience within their sport, improve the tissue tolerance within different movement planes, and introduce new movement patterns over the course of a training program.
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Paul Valukas is the head strength and conditioning coach for the Ontario Reign, the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. You can find him on Twitter (@pvalukas9), Instagram (@pvalukas9), and LinkedIn.
(M. Shaw, professional communication, October,2017)
