Warm-up and cool-down

A general warm-up built from the solo studies, a way to sequence it before class, and a cool-down that gets the journal written.

Why warm up with the studies

Most of the solo movements in this app are what a class warms up with anyway: hip escapes down the mat, bridges, technical stand-ups, sit-outs and breakfalls. The difference is that here each one has a written set of phases and three faults to look for, so a warm-up can double as a form check. The general shape below is a suggestion for an adult with no injury; how long, how hard and whether a particular movement is right for you today is for you and your coach to decide, and a clinician if anything hurts.

A ten minute sequence

Start with two minutes on the kneeling posture and combat base study, moving between both knees and one knee up on each side. It raises the temperature without loading anything and it puts the hips under the shoulders before anything faster. Follow with two minutes of hip escapes and reverse hip escapes, slowly, alternating sides.

Then two minutes of bridges, turning toward alternate shoulders, with the head resting on the mat throughout. Two minutes of sit-outs and hip heists get the turning-over pattern moving. Finish with two minutes of breakfalls from a squat and technical stand-ups, which is the pair a match actually demands.

That sequence exists as the Foundations first and Two escapes plans in the session builder, where the timer will call each block. Load one, shorten the work times if ten minutes is too much, and save it under your own name.

Things to notice, not to force

A warm-up is a good time to run the fault lists. In the hip escape, do the hips travel or do the feet slide? In the bridge, do the heels stay down and does the head stay on the mat? In the sit-out, do the hips lift before the leg swings? None of those questions require a partner and all of them are answered better at warm-up pace than at drilling pace.

Cooling down

After class or after a session, the useful part of a cool-down for this app is the seated reflection round: one thing understood better today, one question, one drill to revisit. Write it in the journal while it is still fresh. Gentle movement while doing so is fine; what to stretch, and whether to stretch at all, is advice this app does not give. If a joint or a muscle hurts in a specific way after training, a clinician is the person to ask.