Written By: Calvin Thai, DPT

When it comes to warming up, there are countless options depending on your goals, sport, or what you are about to train. Regardless of the possibilities, there are a few principles that people often don’t include. For my patients, especially the athletes, I use the RAMP method. Having some sort of structure to follow in a warmup has been key in my personal journey and in my patients’ rehab to feel more confident for getting back to physical activity. The RAMP method is simple in concept:

Raise
Activate
Mobilize
Potentiate

What do all these means? Let’s break it down. When you say “warm up”, it becomes self explanatory, The point of this warm up is to get your body, well, warm. I will break down the goal of each acronym.

Raise

This basically means to raise your heart rate. I typically tell people this involves lower intensity activities with little impact such as a light jog, some light jump roping, or doing a cardio machine until you feel your heart rate increase. This in general is a short part of the workout, maybe 3-5 minutes.

Activate

This is about pre-firing the muscles we are going to use for the activity. This is the part most people seem to neglect. Does sound like a good idea to turn on your car, then slam on the gas pedal? It’s the same with your muscles, they need to work a little bit before you force them to do anything strenuous. If not, they are a lot more prone to injury, just like how a car would eventually break down if mistreated.

Mobilize

This is another part where a lot of people go wrong. I find most people stretch, but they typically do static stretching instead of dynamic. We want to dynamic stretch because muscles are like rubber bands. They are meant to stretch and bounce back. Static stretching has actually been proven to decrease performance because the muscles become too stiff from long holds. Keep things moving through big ranges of motion, like arm circles or leg swings.

Potentiate

Or practicing the movements you are going to do in sport. This can look like quick sprints, ladder drills, jumping, or doing whatever movement pattern you’re going to do in your activity. This helps prime your nervous system to get ready to do the activity well.

In the end, how you warm up dictates how you perform. Good warmup, good performance, plain and simple.

Let’s chat! Book an assessment and let’s get you back to feeling good in your body.

No referrals, no waiting, just answers. Did you know that we offer free 1-on-1 injury screens? Wattage Physical Therapy will take an in depth look at your ergonomics, posture, muscle tone, muscle weaknesses, and movement patterns to create a plan for YOU. If this article intrigues you, you can directly email me, Kelsie at Calvin@wattagept.com. I would be happy to help you start the process of living a life free from pain.

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