RAMP warm-up protocol
When creating or preparing a warm-up to complete before training, it is very useful to have a framework to go off of. The one I have learned is the RAMP protocol which just simply explains the 4 steps you should go through in your warm-up to make sure that your athletes (or you) are ready for the training session ahead.
This framework should be used as the scaffolding for the warm-up, which is then filled in by specific exercises and movement. Here it is:
Essentially, there’s 4 steps that you should make sure you hit in your warm-up
Raise Heart Rate:
- general movement phase to get blood flowing and to begin all of those acute adaptations that come along with this movement
- can be as simple as a jog
*Activate:
- getting the muscles to work in the way they will during training, a “pre-load” if you will
- CNS firing more than when you were just sitting down 3 minutes before
- Generally just simple bodyweight exercises
*Activating to me just means putting the bones in the right position to load the muscle so that it is having to “fire” or have signals sent to it from the CNS
Mobilise:
- access the ROM needed in those joints that are meant to be mobile (i.e. shoulder, thoracic, hip, ankle)
- dynamic movements through those joints which need it
Potentiate:
- The most specific (to the session) phase of the warm-up
- working up to the intensity that we want to reach in our training
- Getting the body working at the rate we want it to
- e.g. speed session: could be building up sprint intensity
Warm-ups can and should be simple, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be thought out. They can set the tone for your whole session and to me, that is important.
For more of my thoughts on this, check out my video I made on the subject HERE
Beyond this there is obviously more that you can switch up. For example, I have learned recently that adding a short, fun, interactive game at the end of the warm-up can pay dividends for how the session will go. Adjust based on your specific situation, but just stick to the same basic priniciples.
So are you warm yet?