Lunge Matrix as Warm-Up

Posted on April 29, 2010 by CoachJay

This warm-up is based on Physical Therapist Gary Gray‘s Lunge Matrix. Personally, I do this before every run, i.e. I get out of a car or walk outside our house to the alley and I do the lunge matrix. No doubt there are other ways to warm-up, but this is the first thing – and often the only thing – I do before a run.

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  • http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.com/ Jim Hansen

    Thanks Jay,
    Just what I have been learning about and need work on!

  • Matt

    LOL that you had to point out that you believe in running.

    Sorry (?) about your late April snow! Friends sent us pictures of their tulips buried.

  • Blake

    I have been doing this for over a month now. It is great. Not only does is help me to warm up, but I also get a core work out and better balance. I like you “Practice what you preach” work out better. This diagonal lung with while are circle is really a good feeling for me. In addition, the backward walking lung is great. It takes time to learn, but it really challenges my balance.

    I also use this as a cool down. I am hoping that the strength that I am developing from this is going to help me be a better runner.

    Thanks for sharing this with us!!!

  • sheilacasey

    This is great. I didn't realize how bad my balance was until I started the twisting lunge and the 45 deg. lunge. I'm doing this matrix at least once a day, even on days I don't run.

  • TrackTy

    Hi Coach Jay,

    What are your thoughts on doing the lunge matrix after a run? I see the obvious reasoning for doing this prior to a run, but I feel like I have gotten the biggest gains from doing this post-run. After a longer run or a workout I like to do the lunge matrix, followed by the myrtle routine and the hip routine (http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=18359). I feel it's a nice way to get some “general strength” work after a run or workout as well as access how fatigued I am. If the day prior to a workout I'm struggling with some coordination on the lunge matrix, I know that I'm more fatigued than usual. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for posting these videos and hope you're doing well.
    -Tyler

  • http://www.strengthrunning.com Jason

    After doing this workout 4-5 times per week for about 5 months, I took 4 weeks off from doing it. I got back into it and was so surprised at my lack of balance and coordination. Not only is the LM great for strength and to wake up the glutes before running, but the coordination aspect of this routine is vital. I'm now scared NOT to do the lunge matrix.

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    Yes, many people think I don't believe in running – a lot of running for the elite athletes.

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    Tyler -

    Yes, I think using it post run is great. That said, I'd be a bit anal about trying to the Lunge Matrix (LM) with perfect angles and perfect feet. Why? You're warm and you've worked out and if you can do it to perfection then you can get a neural stimulus as well. While I don't claim to be a motor learning expert, my guess is that by doing the LM after a workout with perfect you reinforce the deep, core muscles to do what they need to do to get the limbs where you want them to go. That said, I'd take out the backwards lunge post run on the easy days, though we do a ton of those post long run as a way to see how fatigued that athlete is (see this video for an example).

    Thanks for the question – I appreciate it.

  • http://coachjayjohnson.com CoachJay

    “I'm not scared NOT to do the lunge martix.”

    Yes. At one point a few years ago I wasn't practicing what I preached and I was having more injury issues and simply more days where I felt horrible on my run. So now I Just Do It.

  • ScottJensen

    I started doing the LM a few weeks ago, too. I'm just recovering from a 6 month long abdominal injury, so I'm just getting reacquainted with running. I've found that doing the LM right before I run, I start out a little faster and feel much stronger on the run. I tend to have sciatic and piriformis pain when I go from sitting to running, but the LM takes care of most of that and I can jump right in and run at a good strong pace.

  • Ivan

    I'm interested, what do you have your athletes do as a warmup before a race? What do they do immediately after?

  • Matt

    Please — don't link to that anymore! Oy.

    Sorry about the sickness up there.

  • Matt
  • MikeCavanaugh

    Here is a post from a year ago that includes pdf's of warm ups and cool downs and other good stuff.

    http://www.coachjayjohnson.com/2009/05/three-we…

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  • Bjenkin

    Thank you. I'm a new jogger and have been running 10 weeks. On my 2nd day this week I pulled something in my hip during my “severe” style warms that I've been doing all along; what a dissappointment. I was not able to run this morning and ended up walking instead. I will try your warmups

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  • Spyros

    CoachJay in the the exercises 4 and 7 posted here: http://www.coachjayjohnson.com…/ the position of the arms is different than the same exercises i have seen in your videos. Is there any effect in the exercise by changing the position of the arms?

  • Spyros

    Wrong link sorry: The correct is http://runningtimes.com/Print….

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  • http://lasersciatica.com/ samuel

    It is possible that persons may require prescription medications or have to undergo physical therapy in order to control sciatica's painful effects. Surgery or injection therapy may be necessary in some cases. Magnetic Resonance neurography (MRN) is capable of generating a detailed image of virtually any nerve in the body. MRN can accurately image the sciatic nerve, and also shows that medical experts can diagnose and treat sciatic pain that is not caused by a herniated or damaged disc.

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  • Jcheaueo

    This is great!  Thanks so much!

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