Perfect Your Pickleball Warm Up
Enhance Your Game-Day Experience While Adding Elements of Injury Prevention By Adding a Pickleball Warm Up to your routine
Dr. Ariel Edwards, PT, DPT, CSCS
The sun is peaking out of the clouds, do you know what that means?! It’s pickleball time! Let’s face it, although we try to have a friendly pickleball competition, when friends and family get involved, it can get pretty intense as everyone’s competitive spirits come out! Who doesn’t want bragging rights over your siblings, or even better…your kids!
As our pickleball obsessions begin to emerge again, this year, it’s time to come prepared! If you want to show up to the pickleball function as one of the best athletes out there, it’s time to implement a warm up into your routine! Lucky for you, you have FIXXED Studios on your team! We want you staying on the court for longer, and playing pain free! Adding a 5 to 10 minute warm up is a great way to activate your muscles by moving through game-like ranges of motion as a way to prevent injuries from occurring.
Become a pro, and try these four stretches to warm up properly and keep you injury free on the court:
Inchworm to High Lunge with Rotation:
Start by touching your toes, then walk your hands out to a high plank position. Bring one leg forward to get into a high lunge position. Place your foot on the outside of your hand. Hold this stretch for a moment before lifting the hand next to your foot up into the air to activate thoracic rotation. Hold here before rotating back into the high lunge, and then bring your foot back so you are in a high plank again. Repeated this on the other side.
Forward Lunge with Thoracic Rotation
Place both your hands on the back of your head and step forward into a lunge. Once in a stable position, rotate towards your forward leg. If you stepped with your right leg in front, twist to the right. If you stepped with your left leg in front, twist to the left. This should be a slow and controlled movement. After feeling a stretch, return to a normal lunge position, and then come back to standing. Repeat on both sides. One lunge with each rotation of the spine.
Quad Stretch to Reach
Start by finding a level surface. Bend your knee, grab your foot with your same side hand, and pull your heel up to your glutes to stretch your quads. Once in this position, bring your opposite hand straight up as if it is pointing to the sky. Feel a full body stretch. Repeat on both sides.
Frankenstein Walks
This is a great dynamic exercise to activate your hip flexors and stretch your hamstrings. As you are walking, keep your arms out straight in front of you with your palms faced down. With each step, swing your leg up in an attempt to tap the opposite side hand. Try to keep the movement in the hips and legs by maintaining a stable spine.
In no time people will be asking you what your secret is! And this is a great one to share with others as a way to keep everyone playing the game we all love, pickleball! All it takes is an extra 5 to 10 minutes to elevate your skills and enhance your game experience! If you are looking for more injury prevention strategies our clinicians here at FIXXED are equipped with great methods & tools to keep you pain free! Book an appointment today in one of our two studios located in Haverhill, MA and Wakefield, MA by clicking HERE, or book a FREE discovery call with one of our clinicians to learn a little more about what we can do to help you!
FIXXED is a first of its kind recovery studio offering bodywork techniques to help you move and feel your best. We offer quick and effective hands-on services in a one on one setting performed by a licensed physical therapist or athletic trainer. We believe that recovery should be fast, convenient, and accessible for everyone which is exemplified in both our locations located in Haverhill, MA & Wakefield, MA. Click HERE to book a free discovery call with FIXXED!
