Just as with humans, warm-ups are essential in helping prepare your dog's body for physical activity. This blog sheds light on WHY warm-ups are so important and HOW to properly and safely warm up your dog before exercise.
Why Warm-Up?
Establishing a good warm-up routine before commencing exercise is crucial if you want to prevent injury as it offers the following benefits.
Increases blood flow - delivering fresh oxygen and nutrients to the soft tissues.
Warms tight muscles – reduces muscle tension and improves elasticity and flexibility.
Warms synovial fluid - synovial fluid lubricates joints allowing for freer movement.
Engages neural pathways – activates muscle memory and improves coordination, proprioception, and spatial awareness.
Enhances performance – increases Range of Motion (ROM), flexion and extension, power and speed.
Mentally prepares – your dog for exercise, transitioning them from a resting to an active state.
What is a Warm-Up Routine?
A warm-up routine is designed to gradually warm up your dog’s body without causing fatigue. It should work the full body and promote active range of motion. Ideally warm-ups should be completed no more than 15 minutes before exercise and should take around 10 minutes.
The following routine is a generalised, suggested way of warming up your dog before exercise. For a more specific warm-up routine which is tailored to your dog’s sport/activity, strengths/weaknesses and medical history, I recommend obtaining a customised routine.
Your Warm-Up Routine
Remember: Start loose & slow, then gradually build up speed & tightness!
Your warm-up routine needs to be split into four sections to ensure a gradual increase in intensity.
1. Light Cardio – walking & trotting
2. Global Movements - Exercises that work your dog’s entire body, in different planes of motion (directions).
3. Active Range of Motion – Exercises to encourage your dog to perform active stretches to promote joint mobility and full range of movement.
4. Exercise -Specific Drills – movements that mimic what your dog will be doing during exercise i.e. wing wraps on an agility course.
Light Cardio
Aim: To gradually increase your dog’s heart rate and warm-up main muscle groups.
Start on a loose lead at a slow walk
Walk loose 3-meter circles, S shapes or figure of eights
Gradually increase the pace – walk, brisk walk, jog
Aim to complete 2 circles on the right and 2 on the left, reducing size to approximately 1 meter
Spiral the circle in and back out again. Complete on both sides.
2. Global Movements
Aim: To work the dog’s entire body in different planes of motion (forwards/backwards, sideways, up/down).
Movements may include,
Sit, down, stand (mix it up)
Backing up
Sidesteps
Pivots
I suggest picking 3 exercise that target the 3 different planes of motion and doing 1-2 sets of 5 reps each.
N.B. monitor your dog carefully to ensure they are not fatiguing, struggling with any of the movements or showing signs of discomfort.
3. Active Range of Motion
Aim: To use active stretches to promote full range of motion and joint mobility.
A quick note about the different between active and passive stretches!
Active – involves the dog actively using its own muscles to perform the stretch without any external assistance.
Passive – involves an external force, typically the handler physically manipulating the dog’s limb without the dog actively participating in the movement.
Important – Do not stretch your dog prior to competition/ exercise as this may impair muscle performance!
These active stretches are designed to target the forelimbs, trunk and hindlimbs. Select 2 types of stretches and aim to do 2 sets of 5 reps each.
Bow
Paw/ shake
Leg lifts
Elevated stretch (front paws on a slightly raised platform)
4. Exercise -Specific Drills
Aim: To mimic movements that your dog will be doing during exercise.
Examples for agility may include.
Tuggy play
Wing wraps
Left and right spins
Leg weaves
Warm up jump
Start line waits
Heel work
I suggest taking around 2 minutes to do sport-specific drills.
Finally finish with an overall body shake (place hands either side of your dog’s shoulder and shake all the way down to their tail), this mimics a shake that they do when they get out of the water. It helps loosen fascia and your dog will find it very invigorating.
What about using a Warm-up Massage?
Warm up massages (pre-event massage routine) can be interspersed before the start of your warm-up and at the end especially if your event (agility run) has been delayed. For example you can use simple Swedish massage techniques to keep your dog warmed up whilst waiting in the queue. Warm up massages are designed to stimulate blood flow which improves the elasticity and flexibility of the muscles. This in turn, can dramatically increase the range of motion, strength, and power.
In Summary
Incorporating a warm-up routine into your dog’s exercise regimen is essential for their health and well-being. Warm-ups not only enhance performance but also help prevent injury. So, make sure you establish a good warm-up routine to ensure your dog stays fit and healthy for longer.
If you would like more information about warm-up routines please get in touch!
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