FUTSAL WARM-UP

ZADAR FUTSAL WEEKAlan Sinovčić, strength & condition coach

alan.sinovcic@gmail.com

• Every training session and every game starts with the warm-up. Unfortunately, there are several reasons why a lot of players, and sometimes whole teams, very often start the match without good preparation (training). A poor warm-up can cause the first part of the match to be performed at a less-than-optimum level and increase chances for injuries.

A good warm-up has numerous benefits:• Raises body temperature• Helps preventing injuries• Raises the level of excitation of the nervous system• Improves contractile ability of the muscles• Shortens reaction time• Enhances coordination• Improves efficiency of the cardio-vascular system

Here is an example of a futsal team warm-up where all this can be accomplished in just 25 minutes before the match.

I recommend warm-up divided in six parts:1. General warm up (raising body temperature)2. Dynamic flexibility& muscle activation3. Linear & multidirectional preparation4. CNS (central nervous system) activation5. Expression of potential6. Specific futsal warm up (accomplish by head coach)

1. General warm up: light to moderate aerobic activity, running, skipping and jumping at about 60-80 % of maximum intensity. Start with low intensity and increase the intensity each minute. This will raise player's body temperature level; elevate oxygen uptake and switch to the aerobic system. duration: 5 minutes

2. Dynamic stretching can help improve the range of motion around the joints in order to accomplish better performance and prevent injuries. You need to stretch all important joints: ankles, knees and hips. Muscle activation works by stimulating inhibited and weak muscles. Primary targets are hip muscles, adductors, gluteus and hamstrings. duration: 4 minutes

3. In order to prepare players for the match, they must do several sets of linear and multidirectional moves. Linear moves include forward and backward sprints and jumps while multidirectional moves include carioca drills, lateral jumps, lateral shuffles and extensive side skips. Furthermore, this is followed by two to three series of jumps. Duration: 4 minutes Work/rest ratio: 1/4

4. While your players must warm up their muscles, the same process must be accomplished to prepare the Central Nervous System (CNS) for the match. The CNS controls all of your motor functions, which means the better prepared your CNS is, the better your players are. You can simply activate the CNS with few ladder drills and shadowing. Duration: 4 minutes. Work/rest ratio: 1/4

5. Expression of potential is a sum of previous four stages. Expression of potential includes short, fast and intensive moves and random agility drills. All these exercises can be accomplished with or without the ball, and preferably with some fast reaction stimulus. Duration: 3 minutes. Eight repeats of 5-7 seconds.

6. Specific futsal warm up (by head coach): Duration 5 minutes.

The biggest mistakes in futsal warm up:• Not enough CNS activation – it's like

computer without processor• Use of static stretching – it's for cool down,

not warm up• Not enough multidirectional moves: futsal is

not just about running forward

Thank you!

Questions?