Modern Warmup

🏁 The Death of the “Warm-Up”

Why It’s Time to Retire One of the Most Outdated Terms in Sports

Let’s be honest…

Even the word “warm-up” sounds boring.

No one—coaches, athletes, performance specialists, or even you—has ever been truly excited about it. It’s dull. It’s vague. And it’s definitely overdue for a replacement.

❌ “Warm-Up” Is Outdated (and Holding Us Back)

If you’re still separating your workout into a “warm-up” and then “the real work,” you’re stuck in 2004. Much of what we see in fitness today is 20 years behind the science. It’s time to update your terminology and your thinking.

Let’s drop the term altogether.

🧠 Why Terminology Matters

When you hear “warm-up,” what comes to mind?

Jogging in place. A couple static stretches. Half-hearted effort.

Now compare that to terms like:

Mobility
Activation
Agility
Speed Component

These are specific. Intentional. Modern.
They immediately upgrade your focus and bring purpose to your movement.

🏀 Real-World Application: What Actually Wins Games?

While lecturing at a university, I asked a room full of college basketball coaches:

“What’s more important in the final 90 seconds of a close game:
Your player’s vertical, their explosive first step, or their squat/powerclean or bench press max?”

No one picked bench press.
And yet… we still treat bench press like it’s WORKOUT.

Why?

Because we’ve confused measurable strength with real performance.
It’s a terminology problem. And it’s time to fix it.

⚙️ Strength Is Good. But Movement Wins.

The new Term is: Movement Prep.

As a former college athlete, I can tell you:
I would’ve been twice the player if I cared less about maxing out, and more about movement, explosion, and positioning.

We used to think:

“What do you weigh?” and “What’s your squat?”

We should’ve been asking:

“What’s your fastest 10-yard sprint?”

Because… physics.

Speed. Acceleration. Change of direction.
That’s what actually changes the game.

🚨 So Let’s Kill the Term “Warm-Up”

And replace it with a real system that reflects what elite programs are doing right now.

Movement Prep (and all it entails) and Training Phase.

🧩 The Modern Training Flow

At top-tier universities and pro-level programs, training isn’t a “warm-up then workout.”
It’s a multi-phase system that looks like this:

Stress Readiness Assessment (optional, but increasingly used)
Mobility
Activation
Speed Component
Agility / Direction Change
Strength & Power Work

🔓 MOBILITY

This is the most misunderstood and underperformed phase.

Most athletes do mobility with zero purpose. Just going through the motions.

And that’s a waste.

But done right?
Mobility enhances:

Acceleration
Injury prevention
Movement quality
Wins and losses

If I had to go viral on TikTok for one concept—it’d be this one.

🧠 Key Tip:

If your three big engines (hips, ankles, shoulders) aren’t moving, your performance is capped.

🔄 Quick Mobility Drills (Done Right)

🔥 Open & Close the Gates (Hips)
20 big, looping reps each way, each leg
Don’t fake it—these should be slow and exaggerated.

🔠 Ankle Alphabet
Draw every letter with big, smooth motion.
Yes, go all the way to Z.

💪 Cuban Press (Shoulders)
No weight needed—just control and range.
Do 20+ reps.

Pro tip: Mobility only works if you do it with intention.
I didn’t see benefits until day 6 or 7 of truly committing. Then? Pain gone. Mechanics improved. Performance exploded.

⚡ ACTIVATION – Part 2 – keep the new found mobility.

This is not strength training.
This is teaching your brain which muscles should be working.

Modern sports science calls this neural priming. We call it getting your engines online.

How to Activate Properly:

Physical contact matters. Touch the muscle you’re targeting. The brain maps movement better that way.
Start with glutes. Especially the glute medius—it’s the anchor of the lower body and upper body mechanics.
10 reps won’t cut it. Aim for 20+ intentional reps. Feel the contraction.

“Put your hand on your butt and make it fire.”
That’s activation.

🧠 Why This Matters

You cannot even throw a baseball correctly if your glutes aren’t activating. Let alone squat, run and glide across a court. Without proper movement at the 3 Engine, You’ll overuse your shoulder. Hello, elbow pain. Sound familiar?

Without activation, your body cheats.
Secondary muscles try to carry the load.
That’s how injuries (and plateaus) happen.

🏁 My Routine:

Mobility + Activation of the 3 Engines = less than 7 minutes
Every workout. Every time.

Even as an old-school gym rat, I now won’t lift without it.

And the results?

A full minute shaved off my mile pace.
No nagging injuries.
More efficient movement in every single rep.

🏃 AGILITY PHASE

Forget the phrase “dynamic warm-up.”
This is now your dynamic speed training component.

High knees, butt kicks, lateral motion, backward runs, skips.
This trains:

Direction change
Footwork
Reactive movement

You’re probably doing it already—just not like it should be – so reframe it. Call it what it is.

(If you care, look up Mike Holler’s Feed the Cats system of 5 sec on / 55 sec rest)

Not warming up, not getting the blood going – speed and acceleration is neurological – this is amplifying your system!

🚀 SPEED COMPONENT

True speed training requires:

Full recovery
Expert coaching
Maximal exertion
Intentional programming

If you want real speed?
You don’t just “go fast.” You train it smart. You rest. You recover.

Speed training is a skill—not just effort.

💥 STRENGTH & POWER

This is where the squat/cleans and bench press lives.

Still important—but no longer the only thing that matters.

Modern Athletes understand priority stacking for their sport.
Get your strength right.
But not at the expense of movement, control, and body awareness.

🎤 Final Word: The “Warm-Up” is Dead

It’s not just a terminology problem—it’s a performance problem.

Start using the terms that matter:

Mobility
Activation
Agility
Speed Phase
Power Phase
Strength Training

Athletes don’t need more fluff. They need clarity. Purpose. Modern thinking.

🧠 Takeaway for Coaches, Athletes & Parents

If you’re still paying $100/week for bench press PRs, thinking it will equal more playing time and scholarships, you’re missing the real gold.

Mobility and Activation = the real magic.

Speed. Agility. Injury resistance. Long-term wins.

You can’t strap a Ferrari engine to a minivan frame and expect greatness.

Start here. Start now.

Ditch the “warm-up.”
Move like a pro.
Win like one.