Soccer Warm-up Exercises - Must do Before a Big Game

Why should I warm up?
Soccer Warm-up exercises are very important. It helps to prevent muscle strain and injury when playing for a full 90 minutes. There will be many times where you might have to run flat out, and it might just happen in the first few seconds. if you are stationary and cold 1 minute, then running full out the next, you're going to be asking for trouble.

Try to keep moving as much as possible. You may need to work on building your stamina for this. Even if you are just walking, it will still keep you warm and ready.

Some people are unaware of the different benefits to warming up before a training session or before a game. Not only will warming up prepare you for running but it also increases the temperature of your muscles to allow for better movement.

There will also be an increase in heart rate which allows oxygen to travel around the body faster to supply your muscles.

Jog First
Before doing any sort of stretching or running, it is recommended that you do some jogging. This helps to warm up your body and muscles. It also gets your heart pumping. Experts say that pulse rate should be at least 120 beats per minute for optimum performance.

You can start with just a simple, slow rate jog backwards and forwards up the pitch. Gradually, you can increase your running speed and eventually, work up to a sprint. You should do this for about 10-15 mins to get your heart rate up to the level required for optimum performance.

You don't have to jog to soccer warm-up. There are others excersises you can do to warm yourself up. Try just lightly passing a ball between a group of 3 or 4 people. Just light passes to one another whilst staying on your toes. Gradually working up to kicking the ball longer distances.

Stretching
When it comes to stretching, the legs tend to get most of the attention. Exercises to stretch the hamstring, quadriceps, groin and calf are very important and must be carried out no matter what. Stretching the muscles, not only prevents injury, but also increases a limb's range of movement.


Each muscle requires a different stretching exercise. Click below to read more about each muscle group.

Quadriceps
Hamstring
Calf

Make sure you stretch each muscle group properly. Try not to overdo it with the stretching as you can also cause muscle injury from stretching too far.

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