How do I create the perfect warm-up for a squat?

In this article I want to prescribe the perfect warm-up for you. In addition to a general description of the phases that a warm-up should contain, I will also add information with which you can individualize your warm-up. That last step is essential for arriving at a "perfect" warm-up.

What you should not expect from this article is a ready-made explanation of "a" warm-up that you "really must do" because "athlete x" also does this before winning hundreds of medals at "the x games" and taking all his so "successful" clients to greater heights. What you can expect is a solid article with reasoning for the choices you can make to arrive at a warm-up that suits you or your client. I have made videos for all the tests and exercises so that, alongside a clear explanation, you also have visuals. An added benefit of reading and then implementing this is that you gain information about your client that is valuable for success! Let's dive in. Let's start at the beginning!

What does a warm-up need to meet?

Let us take a few steps back. When we move, our body uses various structures to do so; the best known is muscle mass, which produces contraction to set passive structures in motion. In addition, bones and tendons act as levers and pulleys; they ensure that the kinetic energy the muscles generate is converted into movement. Our heart and lung system, also known as the cardiovascular system, works as the engine. This system supplies (new) fuel in the form of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). You can compare the warm-up to starting your car in winter. The windows are frozen, the engine is cold and the tires are rock hard (tendons/bones/muscles). You can start and drive off, but you know that this wears out the whole car much faster and does not benefit performance. You would rather let the engine run for a bit, the cardiovascular system, and drive off calmly before going full speed on the highway. So how do we handle our Ferrari sensibly.

The warm-up consists of 2 phases:

General

In the general warm-up we want to lubricate the joints (release synovial fluid) and activate the sympathetic nervous system to make energy available. This sounds very complicated, but it comes down to needing a movement or combination of movements that move both across the hips and across the shoulders. Nothing crazy, no huge movements, but movement. In addition, we want an aerobic stimulus to get the engine (heart/lungs) going. We do this up to the point where you start to sweat lightly, get a flush in your cheeks and start breathing faster. That's it. 5 to 10 minutes is more than enough. You can choose from: running, air bike/assault bike, rowing or movement drills. Make sure you can build up the movement, or choose a few movements you can build up in intensity. In short, do not start with jump rope, burpees or sprints. Exceptions are the extremely fit athletes, but for them these movements are very light. This does not apply to your average office worker or your neighbor. The goal here is to activate your sympathetic nervous system. This system delivers "all the good stuff" for training, after which we want to switch back to our parasympathetic system to recover.

Specific

The word says it all: SPECIFIC. This is the moment where you really do have to start thinking. Now it gets fun! In all seriousness, I cannot determine what the perfect warm-up is for you, because I do not know how you squat and where you run into trouble. This is essential for determining what you need to do in your warm-up. Even better, if you are a trainer you will need to be able to create various specific warm-ups because your athletes differ, and so do the workouts they are going to do. From this point you have two options: you can scatter buckshot and mobilize and activate on the points that are most important and where problems occur most often. The downside of this approach is that you either A) spend much longer on your warm-up than necessary and/or B) miss something specific that is essential for you. I therefore recommend the second approach, and I would be a bad coach if I did not, which is to make an analysis of your squat and from there determine what you need.

Analysis of the squat pattern

The question you want to ask yourself is: "What is holding me back from reaching depth with a neutral position and ideal hip and knee angles, so that from there I can produce force and move directly upwards?" What we need is a video analysis of the squat (side/front). You want to use the footage to determine whether you see the following: - Does the bar stay positioned above the middle of my foot throughout the entire lift? - Do I maintain a neutral position in my lower back throughout the entire lift? - Do I have an effective distribution between the angles in my hip and knee? That last point is individual and has to do with anthropometry. Someone with longer thighs relative to a short torso ends up very differently in a squat than the other way around (see image 1). If one of those two does not work: - My knee cannot move far enough forward, so I fall forward. Check ankle mobility. You will find the test in this video:

- My back does not stay neutral, I have a buttwink. Check hip structure and core tension. Test squat depth:

Test core tension:

- My upper back rounds extremely during the squat. Check core tension and tension on the latissimus. Recognize tension of the latissimus in the squat:

This is how you test core stiffness:

- I tend to lean more to one side That last one can be a technical problem, but it is often more complicated and goes beyond what I want to cover in this article. With the analysis above you can already address an enormous amount. Of course this does not fall under the heading "perfect," but for that we need more tools to analyze. This also seems too in-depth for this article and is not necessary either to arrive at a very effective warm-up. If you do want a full analysis of your squat pattern, then you can make an appointment with me (Wouter) to book a technique session. In 2 hours I then make a full analysis of your squat and, optionally, I also write a program for you. For more information and if you want to make an appointment, click here. Based on the analysis above, you know something about the ankle, hip, lower back (lumbar) and upper back (thoracic). Do not be afraid to experiment with foot position, knee position, bar position on the back and hand position on the bar. Never settle for compromise on: - A neutral position of the lower back throughout the entire lift. - The bar above your midfoot throughout the entire lift. - Contact with the entire foot on the floor. - No shift to the left or to the right.

Mobilizing and activating

The specific part of the warm-up consists of two subcomponents that both aim to find a better position and to produce force from there. Mobilizing is about creating more space in and around joints such as the ankle, hip, upper back and shoulder. These are the places where we specifically want to create space to get into position. This stems from the "joint by joint" principle (image 3). In the squat we want mobility of the ankle, stability of the knee, mobility of the hip, stability of the lower back, mobility of the upper back, and stability in the neck. If you are missing a step somewhere, then a link further along the chain has to compensate. A stiff upper back causes instability or more movement in the neck or lower back. So in addition to mobilizing, we also want to look at "activating," which comes down to creating tension for stability in the chain. We will go through the joints from bottom to top and I will give you plenty of exercises to improve mobility and stability! These exercises are not sacred; I could write down many more. What is especially important is the effect of the exercise. If you come up with an intervention, also test whether it actually leads to improvement in the squat pattern. On our YouTube page you will find many more videos of exercises you can use in your warm-up.

Ankle

Your ankle mobility determines how far you can move your knee forward during the squat. Problems in the squat due to ankle mobility occur more often than you would think, so I recommend including the test in your analysis. It is quick and clear. A limitation in the ankle can cause a collapsed squat, or a limitation in one of the two ankles can cause you to rotate in the squat. A limitation in your ankle can be addressed by raising your heel, in other words by wearing lifters. However, this also changes the mechanics of the squat by shifting the emphasis more towards the knee and less onto the hip. This is not ideal for everyone (read the anthropometry mentioned earlier). Here is the 5-inch wall test to test your ankle mobility. This video also includes a mobility exercise and a stretch to improve ankle mobility.

RNT Split Squat, a nice exercise to warm up the squat pattern and mobilize the ankle while you activate the hip.

Knee and hip

We want the knee to stabilize and only extend and flex while the hip produces tension to keep that knee in position while it also extends and flexes. MAN! that is complicated. Remember that the hip is a ball-and-socket joint, which makes it ideal for not only extending and flexing but also for "rolling" and "rotating." The knee, on the other hand, is a hinge joint, ideal for extending and flexing. So what we want is to maximize the quality of each joint. Knee valgus is a common pattern in which we see more movement in the knee because the hip does too little. In this video I answer the question of why we want to activate the hips and how we can do that.

Below are two more nice drills to activate the hips! RNT BW Squat

Lateral band walks (addition/tip: place the band on the middle of your foot)

Squat iso holds Back and hip extensions, less specific to the squat, but perfect for the hips. Personally I am more of a fan of asking for fewer repetitions with a long hold. For example 4 to 6 repetitions with a 6-second hold in the top position.

Trunk/core

In this video I explain to you what a neutral position is, and why tension on the trunk is so valuable during big compound lifts such as the squat.

Here is a list of exercises I often use to teach and/or activate core stiffness: Anti rotation chop, an exercise in which we ask for core stiffness while we mobilize the upper back. Perfect for the squat, completely in line with the joint by joint principle!

Stir the pot, a plank position with movement from the upper back. BINGO!

Anti extension press, creating tension with your latissimus while maintaining your core stiffness. Ideal for learning how we keep the bar in position on the back without arching in the lower back.

Upper back

The upper back carries the bar during the squat and transfers the force we develop in our lower body onto the bar. 3 mobility exercises to make more space in the upper back (thoracic spine) and the shoulders.

The latissimus dorsi plays an essential role in controlling the bar on the back. Too little tension can lead to a hollow lower back or rotating to one side during squatting. In this video I explain to you exactly what it does and I give you coaching to optimize the activation.

A set of pulling movements is also ideal before you start your squat. Keep it simple. Tripod row, combines tension in a neutral position with activating the upper back/latissimus. Make the pause at the top longer (4 to 6 seconds) to put more emphasis on the tension needed in the squat.

Lat Pulldown, a classic. Here too I would again work with a 4 to 6 second iso hold.

Final remark

Make sure you give specific attention to the areas where it is needed. If your ankles are extremely limited, then you need a lot of attention there, so give it the attention it needs. But if you come to the conclusion that you see a fine squat, then keep it short and powerful. In that case choose the bigger exercises such as the goblet squat or the RNT split squat to create an effective warm-up that ensures we can use all our focus and energy to perform in the workout that is coming.

Summary

Despite the mountain of information, I am a fan of an efficient warm-up, but over the years I have learned to respect the warm-up. A targeted warm-up ensures you will see improvement in your squat pattern because you better align mobility and activity, which means you will find better positions. A better position = less compensation = less chance of injuries. A good warm-up ensures that we can enjoy our beautiful Ferrari for a long time. Because although you might be able to buy a second Ferrari after saving for a long time, that will not work that way for your body. Just think about that for a moment! Wouter Middelbos MILO Performance and Education PS I thought long and hard about this article. As always it has become longer than I had initially planned, but there will always be points you might have missed or have questions about. You can always email me at wouter@miloeducation.com; better yet, I would love to hear from you!

Bonus

Video: Fixing sticking points in the squat In this video we go through the entire squat and I show you what to look for in order to arrive at a plan to make your squat stronger.