Warming up for Ultimate frisbee

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A proper warm-up is especially essential when it comes to a sport like Ultimate Frisbee where you are required to do a lot of sprinting, changes of direction, twisting, jumping, lateral movements and more. So always allocate a good ten minutes to do some of these easy exercises before you begin playing or practicing.

Firstly, start off with these six basic dynamic stretching exercises. Make sure that you feel each muscle stretch and take deep breaths while doing them.

1.  Torso Rotations

Put your hands in front of you and twist your upper body in opposite directions in a slow and controlled motion.

2.  Squats

Stand slightly wider than your hips with your feet pointing outwards. Keep your body tight and upwards while you push your butt out and move up and down steadily and slowly.

3.  Jumping Jacks

Start off with standing with your arms against your body and feet together. Next, do a jumping motion while opening up your legs and allowing your hands to touch above your head.

4.  Skater Leans

Lean your upper body in front and jump sideways by putting one foot behind the other. 

5.  Leg Swings

Hold on to a pole or a sturdy object for balance. Swing one leg in front in a 90-degree angle and then swing that leg behind the standing leg. Repeat for the opposite leg.

6.  Arm Circles

Put your arms up in a 90-degree angle and rotate in the same direction while keeping your muscles straight and tight. Take care not to rotate your arms too quickly. Slow, controlled motions where you feel your muscles stretch is what you’re aiming for.

The next step to warming up is to familiarise your movements with the disc. Try throwing twenty forehands, one after the other. Do them with different angles and body positions. Afterwards do another twenty backhands and twenty hammers. To execute a hammer throw, simply pretend that you are throwing am axe.

After all that throwing, get your adrenaline up by practicing your cuts. Run hard in different directions while visualising a defender challenging you.

When you’re done with training or playing, always remember to cool down properly as well. It will help with the healing of the muscles. Simply, repeat the stretching exercises listed previously and hydrate sufficiently.

Lastly, try to keep with this routine for each game. Warming up is essentially for waking your muscles up. The body responds well to repeated actions, so keep things familiar and it will get the message that you are gearing up for intense activity.

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