THE TEN MINUTE WARM UP

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BODY COMPLETE FITNESS SOLUTIONS

Why 10 minutes? Well this is probably the shortest amount of time that it will take for most players to achieve the warm-up goals of:

  • Increasing body temperature
  • Dynamically stretching the major joints and muscles
  • Firing up the major muscle groups
  • Optimising co-ordination and practicing squash-specific movements.

I have also decided to go for the short warm-up option, as many club players don’t turn up for their matches with much more than 10 minutes to spare!


1. Jogging  - 1 minute.

A gentle start to prepare the body for exercise.

2. Side to side skipping - 30 seconds.

Fires up the inner and outer thigh muscles.

3. Crossover running - 30 seconds.

Improves agility.

4. High knee running - 30 seconds.

Dynamically stretches the buttock muscles and fires up the calves.

5. Heel to buttock running - 30 seconds.

Dynamically stretches the front thigh muscles.

6. Hamstring stretch walking - 30 seconds.

Dynamically stretches the hamstrings.

7. Lunge walking with twist - 30 seconds..

Dynamically stretches the thigh muscles / fires up the major lower limb muscles, promotes trunk mobility and stability

8 Ghosting with gradual effort increase to 100% - 3 minutes.

Introduces the body to squash specific movement.


Perform the above exercises in the following order:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

This 10 minute warm-up can be expanded and added to as the need arises. For instance, it may take longer to get the body up to speed in the depths of winter at the back of a freezing court. Additional exercises and movements can also be added to address any particular physical issues that individual players may have.

Common sense and the findings of several scientific studies point to the benefits of performing a well structured warm-up before sport. With the promise of fewer injuries and better on-court performance – what are you waiting for? Get warmed up!  

 Chris Stringer

BODY COMPLETE FITNESS SOLUTIONS

Owner. Head Coach. Nutrional Expert.

www.bodycomplete.co.uk

© BSL 2018