The importance of Warm-Up Exercises in Football

When night begins to fall over Portugal, thousands of young and old take the opportunity to put on their football boots and give free rein to their love of football. Whether in a more organised (federated) way, or just a simple "peladinha", football is part of the Portuguese genetic heritage, but, as with other sports, it is not enough to buy the latest generation of training equipment and start kicking the ball around.

In addition to t-shirts, training trousers and appropriate footwear, footballers should pay special attention to warm-up exercises. If, even with the guidance of professional coaches, federated football players are affected by injuries, it is easy to understand that without an effective warm-up before a training session or match, and without guidance, the thousands of amateur players that every day invade the pitches and fields of this country are exposed to a greater risk of contracting disabling injuries, not only for the practice of football, but even for everyday life.

The warm-up phase in football and other sports activities is, therefore, fundamental for those who are about to start practising it, since it will help the body to prepare for the next effort by making the cardiorespiratory and motor systems go into a faster rhythm, in a gradual way, preventing those annoying injuries.

Furthermore, warming up before starting a physical activity, as it activates the muscles, also helps to increase the performance of the workout.

With this in mind, if you're already properly equipped with a t-shirt which absorbs sweat and helps keep you dry during physical activity, some trousers or shorts and comfortable and suitable footwear, it's time to get into the field and... start training!

In order to help you in this task, we have put together some warm-up exercises that will help you prevent injuries during your "peladinhas" with friends.

Warm-up Exercises

• Stretches

These stretching exercises are essential to prepare the calves, adductors, lower back, hamstrings and quadriceps, muscles that are most worked during the game itself and which are essential to injury-free training.

So, to "warm up" the hamstrings and calves you should, standing up, lower your arms along your body until you grab one of your feet with your hand on the same side. Support that leg on the heel alone as you lift the tip of your foot to help warm up.

Keep the leg completely straight, without bending the knee. Afterwards, bend the knee of the opposite leg slightly.

You should stay in this position for 10/15 seconds and then repeat the exercise by changing legs.

For the quadriceps warm up, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your leg back and grasp it with the hand on the same side. In this position, slowly pull your ankle back and slightly upwards to bring your heel closer to your glutes.

After holding this position for a few seconds, repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Finally, concentrate on your lower back. Lie on the floor, bend your legs towards your chest and grab your knees with your hands. Then, bring your legs closer to your chest with a gentle movement and slowly return to the starting position.

Bring your knees to one side and hold for a few seconds. Continuing with your knees gripped, move them to the opposite side. Repeat these movements several times.

• Running

Now the running. After working your muscles, it's time to wind up your boots. Start by doing a continuous run at a gentle pace for 5 minutes and then move on to these activation runs:

- Lateral running;

- Back crawl

- Normal running, touching the ground with both hands, jumping up and continuing to run;

- Torso twists during the run

- Changes of rhythm during running

- Running with the knees raised

- Sprints.

• Contact with the ball

Once the two previous steps have been completed, contact with the ball comes into play. Among the most popular warm-up exercises with the ball are the:

- Round/"Meiinho": placed in a circle, players try to pass the ball between themselves without the player in the centre stealing the ball from them.

- Passing: organised in pairs, they start with short passes and then increase the distance to increase accuracy.

- Driving: while several players run simultaneously, two others must pass the ball between them without it touching the player who is running.

With all these warm up exercises you'll be ready to face the pitch!