Guides · Session design · 9 November 2026 · Thomas Schüller
A warm-up that works
Warming up by the RAMP principle: raise, activate, mobilise, potentiate — and why a fixed programme can help prevent injuries.
Many sessions start with two laps of jogging and some stretching. That warms you up but hardly prepares you for what follows. Jeffreys describes the RAMP principle: Raise, Activate and Mobilise, Potentiate — raise pulse and temperature, activate muscles and mobilise joints, finally increase intensity up to the level of the main part.
What a fixed programme brings
Soligard and colleagues showed in young female footballers that a fixed warm-up programme with running, strength and balance exercises, performed regularly, reduced severe injuries. It worked where it was carried out consistently twice a week or more.
Structure in 10 to 15 minutes
Start with easy running and running drills, then a few squats, lunges and jumps, then sport-specific movements with ball or equipment. Static stretching rather belongs at the end of the session.
With the session builder
The tool contains warm-up forms built this way, runs them with the follow-along clock and voice guidance and can be taken over into the training plan.
Key point: A good warm-up builds up to the main part and is done the same way regularly — only then does it protect.
References
- Jeffreys, I. (2007): Warm-up revisited: the ramp method of optimizing warm-ups. Professional Strength and Conditioning 6, 12–18.
- Soligard, T. et al. (2008): Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ 337, a2469.