Forging the Fighter Before the Fight

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Research Corner

A lot of time, money, and energy has gone into the research around warming up. After all, it’s a part of every athletic practice from professional football to little-league. A well-constructed warm-up does more than "loosen things up" or get your body warm. It affects neuromuscular activation, physical readiness, and mental focus. Below are some of the key physiological and practical insights from the literature that support treating the warm-up as a strategic tool rather than a checkbox:

1. Performance Boost. Systematic review & meta-analysis demonstrates that when athletes do a proper warmup, 79% of performance measures improve. These improvements are widely spread across all areas of physical performance from power and endurance to jump height and reaction time. Regardless of the physiological underpinnings, the result is clear: warmups help athletes perform better. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c643a0

2. Brain Game: Warmups are a multi-purpose window of time to not only physically ready your body, but psychologically prepare yourself for the focus and control needed in a complex, fast-moving sport like fencing. Just like a car or train commute from work to home can help transition your brain out of “work” and into “family” mode, the warmup allows your “fencing brain” to gradually come online and start to zone in on your actions. Not only does this lower your psychological stress, but it improves your mental readiness for the task at hand. DOI: 10.3390/jfmk4030042

3. Neuromuscular Activation: What does “waking up” the body actually mean? Increasing muscle temperature improves conduction velocity in motor neurons, while dynamic, sport-specific movements enhance the rate of force development and synchronization of muscle firing. In practical terms: your muscles respond faster, coordination improves, and you can produce more explosive power with less wasted effort. This concept is closely tied to post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE). This is an increase in muscle performance following moderate, submaximal contractions during the warm-up. For example, performing a few bodyweight jumps or light lunges before more explosive fencing footwork increases subsequent movement speed and power output. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01359

HEMA Hot Take:

You don’t see elite athletes skipping their warm-ups…so why do fencers think we’re different?

The higher you climb in any sport (and the older you get), the more seriously athletes need to take preparation. If you want your body to move with A-Tier precision and power, you have to train it to turn on. Your warm-up is where that switch flips. Treat it like part of your practice, not something you rush through while chatting about that SPES jacket your friend just ordered.

Too often the start of HEMA class is the first drill, with no warmup in sight. But if you skip the prep work you’re spending the first 15 minutes of training just catching up - physically cold, mentally scattered, and uncoordinated. If your coach doesn’t offer a warmup, take your training into your own hands: show up 10 minutes early and do your own, or offer to lead one for the other students.

Coach’s Corner

Too often, coaches call “everyone warm up!” and then watch from the sidelines while students run through the same halfhearted jog and arm circles they’ve done for years. Or, a lead student instructs the warmup, but it’s really just calling out a few exercises while people stand in a circle.

But the warm-up is coaching time. The same focus you give to your students during the lesson should be given to them in the warmup. Don’t stand back. Use that time to teach, correct, and connect. It’s a perfect opportunity to:

• Identify and correct problems with fundamental movement patterns (knees cave when squatting, knee and toe track incorrectly when lunging)

• Reinforce technical habits (footwork, fencing posture, cutting mechanics)

• Observe who’s stiff, tired, or nursing an injury

• Foster team energy and focus before the lesson begins

Remember: the more engaged YOU are with the warmup, the more likely your students are to be engaged and give maximal effort too. If you treat the warmup like an optional event, expect your senior students to do the same.

Health & Fitness Tips

Not sure what to do? Here’s a simple framework for constructing your own fencing warm-up:

1. Get Moving: Start with light, general movement like skipping, jogging, or dynamic full-body movements such as bodyweight squats or walkouts to increase circulation and raise core temperature. A brief game that gets people moving around each other is a great option too.

2. Activate Key Muscles: Next, layer in movements that “wake up” and engage key fencing muscle groups including the posterior chain, core, and upper back. Try lunges with a cross-body twist, squat variations, or pushup variations to get muscles online.

3. Refine Movement: Include in patterns that resemble fencing positions: split squats, shadow footwork, or mirror drills.

4. Prepare for Action: Finish with short, high-speed or reaction-based work like footwork sprints, reaction cues, or light fencing games.

Additional Tips:

• Make it adaptive. Encourage fencers with wrist, shoulder, or hip issues to modify where needed, or replace an exercise with something suitable for their body.

• Keep it playful. Incorporate games, challenges, or partner work to raise engagement.

• Vary it. Change your warm-up focus every few weeks to prevent autopilot.

• Match the day’s focus. A conditioning session needs different prep than a technical lesson. Think about what’s in the lesson and design your warmup accordingly. Doing zwerchs? Work offline movements in your warmup. Saber day? Focus on the shoulders and back.

Conditioning Move of the Week

Reverese Lunge with Overhead Reach

Grab your feder or a long dowel for this full-body warm-up move. Take a wide grip on your feder and alternate stepping back into a reverse lunge while bringing the arms fully above your head.

Hint: Poor shoulder mobility? Widen your hands into a broader grip.

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