Megan Condis - Fun and Unique Warm Ups for Coaches and Physical Educators

By Megan Condis

Copyright 2014 Megan Condis

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal useonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

The ideas, concepts, and opinions expressedin this book are intended to be used for educational purposes only.This book is sold with the understanding that the author andpublisher are not offering medical advice of any kind.

Before beginning any new fitness regimen,athletes should consult with a licensed physician.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the useof any fitness equipment mentioned here with the help of acertified and experience trainer before you attempt to use it forthe first time.

The author and the publisher claim noresponsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, ordamage to bodies or property caused or alleged to be causeddirectly or indirectly as the result of the use, application, orinterpretation of material in this book.

I would like first and foremost to thank myhusband, Jake. He is my partner in everything and his encouragementand support are the source of any success I might be bold enough toclaim.

I would also like to thank my CrossFit familyat CrossFit Trilogy in Pekin, Illinois. These men and women are mybest friends, my inspirations, and my greatest sources of laughterand smiles. I hope you all had fun play-testing these activities!Thanks for being my guinea pigs. Thanks for being my friends.

Finally, I would like to thank my family. Mygrandparents Ron and Sally Ferko and Henrietta Davis nurtured mycuriosity and indulged me by typing up stories and poems composedby a five year old. My mother, Amy Davis, taught me that regularpeople could write and get published. And more than that, shetaught me that smart, witty, sharp women are the best women in theworld. My dad, Bill Davis, is my role model as a coach. He hastaught so many skills and life lessons to so many boys and girls,including myself and my brother. I hope to someday touch a fractionof the lives that he has touched.

Introduction

Basic Exercises

Ready, Set, Go!

Everybody Jump, Jump!

Take Your Medicine

Bouncy Balls

Stupid People Tricks

Music to My Ears

About the Author

Warming up is extremely important forathletes in all stages of life, and yet it is often the mostneglected portion of a work out, simply because it can often becomerepetitive and boring. This book aims to put the fun back into warmups by getting athletes moving in new and unexpected ways.

It is written for anyone who coaches athletesin a group setting: physical educators, team sports coaches, campcouncilors, CrossFit gym owners, personal trainers, scout leaders,and more.

The activities described here are appropriatefor young and old, for experienced athletes and newbies, for smallgroups and large ones. Dont underestimate how fun simpleplayground games and competitions can be for adults as well aschildren!

They can also be used as cool down activitiesor as ice breakers for large groups.

Remember to always pair these warm ups withstretching exercises to work on flexibility and mobility.

Here you will find instructions for all thebasic exercises that go into these warm-ups and drills. Getfamiliar with these movements before you try any of these games ordrills.

Air Squat

Keep your feet at about hip width apart or,if flexibility is an issue, a little wider. Drive your knees outwide and drop your butt towards your heels.

Keep your chest angle consistent; dont letyourself dip forwards. Think that someone standing in front of youshould be able to read whatever is written on your t-shirt. Dontlook down at your feet. Instead, keep your gaze fixed on a point ateye level from your standing position.

Keep your weight in your heels. If you findyourself tipping forward onto your toes, dont go down any deeperuntil your flexibility increases. If you want, raise your arms upas you descend to keep your balance.

Ideally, you would go down until your hipsare past parallel to your knees. If you cant get that deep, go asdeep as you can go with your chest angle upright and work on yourhip flexibility!

Burpee

Everyones favorite movement!

Beginner version:

Walk your feet back and drop into a plankposition, then lower yourself to the ground. Walk your feet back upunder you and stand up. Jump in the air and clap your hands overyour head.

Advanced version:

Kick your feet out behind you and catchyourself as you fall, lowering yourself to the ground at the lastsecond. Jump your feet up back under you and stand up. Jump in theair and clap your hands over your head.

Lunge

Take a large step forward with your rightfoot. Drop your left knee down towards the ground, keeping yourright knee over your foot. Dont let your right knee go past yourtoes; keep your shin parallel to the ground. Push off hard on yourforward foot to stand back up and repeat on the other side.

You can either hover your knee a few inchesabove the ground or gently touch it to the ground but be sure notto slam it down. The deeper you go, the more difficult themovement.

Push-Up

Start in a plank position, arms extended andhands underneath your shoulders. Lower yourself down until yourchest touches the floor. Then push yourself back up to the startingposition.

Make sure you keep your elbows in close toyour body. Dont let them flare out to the side like chickenwings!

Scale this movement by doing push-ups fromyour knees instead of your toes.

Sit-Up

Start with the soles of your feet pressedtogether and your knees flared out, butterfly-style. Lay back andreach over your head, touching the ground with the back of bothhands. Then throw your hands forward hard and sit up. Touch theground in front of your toes to complete the rep.

These activities are formatted as races. Someare for individuals and some are for teams, but they will all getyour athletes blood pumping and their competitive juicesflowing!

1 to 10

Using chalk, write the numbers 1 through 10in random scattered places around the gym floor. Make them farapart and somewhat small (maybe about 5 inches across) but not TOOsmall).

Write the following instructions on theboard:

1 Jump as high as you can and yellWahoo!!

2 Do 5 burpees

3 Hip thrust and shout uh huh!

4 Do 5 air squats

5 Sing Mary Had a Little Lamb in a littlegirls voice

6 Do 5 lunges

7 Scream I LOVE COACH __________ (yourname)

8 Do 5 push-ups

9 Sing the ABC song

10 Do 5 sit-ups

Have each athlete start on a differentnumber. When you say go athletes will do the action for theirnumber. Then they must find and run to the next number (so from 1to 2 or from 5 to 6) wherever it is on the gym floor and do thataction. Tell athletes to be mindful of the people around them andnot run into each other or trip on people doing burpees! The firstathlete to complete all ten numbers wins!

Indian Run

Have your athletes line up. Give the firstathlete in line a token (a dodge ball, a cone, or the like). Startthe athletes on a light jog. The first athlete will remain facingforward but will reach back over their head and pass the token tothe person behind them in line. They will do the same until thetoken reaches the last person, who will sprint to the front of theline and start the whole process over. Repeat for 800m or so.