Pre-Workout Stretching Ideas

In a recent post, we posed a question about organized stretching as part of the warm-up. Some like it, some don’t, but most important is that everyone is stretching safely and effectively. Most athletes, expert coaches, and sports scientists agree that static stretching before working out is at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive or even dangerous. (Do some additional research on your own, but read this article for one example.) While static stretching is very important after a workout, it’s dynamic/ballistic stretching that will best prepare your body for some hard work.

The video below is a recent post from Matt Wichlinski. In it, he shows dozens of different warm-up movements and stretches, many of which should look pretty familiar. This guy’s a total monster and is doing some really neat training at his gym The Strength Shop.

[BE ADVISED: Matt's got some music playing in the background that contains explicit lyrics.]

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Oh Great, More S&C…

Over the weekend Danelle and I attended a strength and conditioning seminar by Kevin Kearns, S&C coach to many big-time MMA fighters. While he didn’t delve as deeply as we would have liked into programming and “bigger picture” stuff, we did come away with a lot of new and neat ideas to incorporate into Krav classes.

Don't worry, we don't have a sled. Yet.

Now, do you need the conditioning of an MMA fighter to be proficient in Krav Maga, or self-defense in general? Following the One Rule of Krav Maga (Don’t Get Hurt / Go Home Safe), we want to end an altercation as quickly as possible, not outlast our opponent in a three-round sport fight. So technically, no, we don’t need to train like those super athletes. But why take the chance? As goes one of my favorite of many quotes from expert strength coach Mark Rippetoe, “Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. I’m working on an in-depth post about metabolic conditioning as it relates to Krav training, so much more on this later…

We instructors have a pretty good idea of what’s needed to effectively train for self-defense, but let’s hear from you. A big reason for creating the new blog-based site was to get students more involved, so give us some feedback in the comments below. Here are some questions to get you started:

  • What are your thoughts on incorporating some new strength and conditioning protocols into our warm-ups and drills?
  • What kind of exercises/drills do you like or want more of? Want less of?
  • We sometimes do an organized stretch as part of the warm-up, and we sometimes let you stretch on your own. Which do you prefer?
  • What are some of your personal strength and conditioning goals?
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