The National Team Warmup

Some comments on the McKayla Maroney Post, as well as on my Twitter prompted me to write this post about the National Team Warmup.


Many elite coaches swear on this. AOGC uses it (as McKayla told us), Texas Dreams does it on their Two-a-days, and John Geddert has said he uses it often as well. I'd suspect that more elite coaches use it than don't.

Gymnastike has a great video from Region 3 Camp about the Warmup:



Watch more video of Workout Wednesday, Season 2 on gymnastike.org



After years of not being able to find a complete video of the National Team Warmup for years Beechurst10 came to the rescue! Here is a video of a modified warmup from 2007 TOPs A Camp. Below the video is a list of the exercises. It does not perfectly follow along with the video so don't expect it to. I'm not sure is this is modified for TOPs, if the warmup has changed since 2007 or both. Many of the exercises are in the video though.


Nica Hults and Nicki Shapiro (Sami's little sister who's going to be the best college gymnast EVER) are in this video (both in White), Polina Shchennikova is in Pink, and Bridget Dean is in Gold. Let me know if you find any other recognizable faces.

The owner of the video won't allow anyone to embed her video, but you can see a video of the warmup here.

The National Team Warmup based on USA Gymnastics' Website. 




Preparation 
Jump Rope (optional)
Variation of jumping 5 minutes
Walking Around Mat 
Head and wrist rolls 8-16 counts
Shoulder circles w/bent arms 8-16 counts
Arm swings Up, Down, Cross, Side 4 times each
Trunk twists arms in opposition 8-16 counts
Toe/Foot Stretches
Ball of foot lifts R begins then switch, quick 8 times
Top of toe lifts R begins then switch, quick 8 times
Repeat
2 steps rebound, R begins 4 times
Cardio
Running
Forward runs 3-5 passes
Backward runs 1 pass
Knee Lifts 1 pass
Butt kicks 1 pass
Prance, toes point, legs straight in front 1 pass
Power skips using big arm swing 1-3 passes 
WalksHigh toe 8-16 counts
Heel 8-16 counts

Stretching 
Arm Swings
R back, L back 4 each
R forward, L forward 4 each
Alternating R back first 4 each
Alternating L back first 4 each
Diagonal swings R then L 4 each
Trunk (stand in straddle)
Trunk twist, R begins 4 each
Pilé twist R Straight twist L lifting L leg 2 times
Repeat beginning with L
Hip push RLRL
Hip circle begin to R 1 time
Repeat to L
R lean, R hand on hip, L arm overhead stretching 2 times
L lean, L hand on hip, R arm overhead stretching 2 times
Forward lean, hands on hips 2 times
Backward lean, hands on hips 2 times
Arms through legs then thrust up overhead 2 times
Alternating arm lifts, body bent over, hand on floor RLRL
Repeat
Floor Stretching 
Join legs in pike stand
Pike, squat, pike, squat, 4 quick toe rises twice
Tuck roll to brief pike lay, roll down to pike sit
Sitting
Pike sit stretch with toes pointed 8 counts
Pike sit stretch with toes flexed 8 counts
Straddle legs, R reach 2 counts
Middle reach 2 counts
L reach 2 counts
Open and hold 2 counts
Repeat beginning with L
Lying
Reach back R to side, swing L leg up and around and allow body to follow to L.
As roll finishes, allow R leg to continue swinging back bent, as R arm swings forward then switches as R leg swings forward and R arm swings back.
Begin counting with R leg back then F,B,F,B,F,B,F and move leg up and over head as exercise began.
Repeat on L
Finishing on L side, Side stretches 8 counts
Roll to tummy, Seal stretches 8 counts
Roll to R side, Side stretches 8 counts
Roll to tummy, Quad stretches, R then L 8 counts
Feet 
Push back, sit on knees and lift body over top of toes 8 counts
Hop over toes, straighten legs, walk hands out
Achilles stretch R begins alternating 8 counts
R leg straight, L ankle at R ankle, stretch 8 counts
R leg bent, L ankle at R ankle, stretch 8 counts
Repeat above on L side
Ankle pops, pike stand, flat, then pop to top of toe 8 counts
Toe rises in pike stand 8 counts

Splits 
Turn to R, R leg in front, stride stand, chest to knees 8 counts
Deep lunge, toes pointing forward, back leg straight 8 counts
Wider stride stand, R foot flexed 8 counts
Deep lunge, toes pointing forward, back leg straight 8 counts
L knee on floor, pull L foot to hip (Hamstring stretch) 8 counts
Slide into R split, square off 8 counts
Lift L leg, hold it with R hand 8 counts
Release, L leg joins R in pike sit, turn over to knees
Repeat lifting L leg to stride position
From knee sit, step on L foot in lunge
Move to R side lunge, L,R,L slide into side split 8 counts
Wrist warm-up, top of hands, palms of hands - while in split
Pull legs together and bridge, push thru shoulders 2-4 counts
Tuck and roll 2 times
Repeat

Conditioning 
On last roll, roll all the way up to:
Straight jump, Tuck jumps (alternating) 5 each
Roll back to back, crunches 25
Alternating V-ups 10 each
Roll to R side for Arch ups 10
Repeat to L 10
Roll to tummy, Push-ups 15
Slide legs in to pike press, rebounds 5 each
Kicks 
In lines, step R, kick L front, step L, kick R side, step R, kick L back, turn
Repeat down the mat alternating legs
Bend over kicks, touch floor with hands, kick R back straight then bend
Repeat to L
Report to personal coaches for additional warm-up and conditioning as time allows.