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Fundamentals Coaching

  • Fundamentals Coaching Guide
  • Fundamentals Class Structure
  • Fundamentals Warmup Guide
  • Shadow Protocol (Fundamentals)
  • Shadow Session 1: Game Design and Rules Communication
  • Shadow Session 2: Feedback and Coaching Language
  • Shadow Session 3: Timing, Pacing, and Energy
  • Shadow Session 4: Observation and Adaptation
  • Assist Protocol (Fundamentals)
  • Assist Session 1: Giving Individual Feedback
  • Assist Session 2: Reading the Room
  • Assist Session 3: Communicating Game Rules
  • Assist Session 4: Coaching Between Rounds
  • Assist Session 5: Owning a Segment
  • Assist Session 6: Putting It All Together
  • Co-Lead Protocol (Fundamentals)
  • Co-Lead Session 1: Warmup + Evergreen + Retrieval (Plus a Taste of the Main Topic)
  • Co-Lead Session 2: Warmup + Evergreen + Retrieval (Plus a Taste of the Main Topic)
  • Co-Lead Session 3: The Main Topic and Retrieval
  • Co-Lead Session 4: The Main Topic and Retrieval
  • Co-Lead Session 5: Proving Consistency on the Main Topic
  • Co-Lead Session 6: Proving Consistency on the Main Topic
  • Solo with Supervision (Fundamentals)
  • Solo Session 1: Running the Show
  • Solo Session 2: Running the Show
  • Solo Session 3: Proving Consistency
  • Solo Session 4: Proving Consistency
  • Solo Final Assessment (Fundamentals)
  1. Coaches
  2. /Fundamentals Coaching
  3. /Fundamentals Warmup Guide

Fundamentals Warmup Guide

Fundamentals Coaching · Lesson 3 of 28All lessons

5 min read

TLDR: Run the six movements below in order. Two minutes, no breaks. Get them warm, get them moving, get into games.

The Warmup

The same six movements, every class, in this order:

  1. Jog
  2. Butt kickers: heels kicking up to glutes
  3. Inside shuffle: lateral shuffle leading with the inside foot
  4. Outside shuffle: lateral shuffle leading with the outside foot
  5. Inside karaoke: grapevine with the crossing foot going in front
  6. Outside karaoke: grapevine with the crossing foot going behind

One full lap of each. Total time: approximately 2 minutes.

Notes for Coaches

  • Start on time. Don't wait for stragglers; latecomers jump in wherever you are.
  • No instruction needed. Demonstrate and go. If someone's never done karaoke before, they'll figure it out by the second lap.
  • Don't extend it. Two minutes is the target. The warmup prepares them to play; it's not a workout.
  • If the mat is crowded, call a direction before you start so everyone runs the same way.

Why This Warmup

There are two schools of thought on warmups, and it's worth knowing both so you can make an informed call when the situation calls for it.

Doug Lemov's lens is about routine and cognitive priming. A consistent, low-instruction warmup signals that class has started and it's time to focus. The value isn't in the specific movements; it's in the predictability. Students stop thinking about their day and start orienting toward training. Our warmup does this well. It's the same every class, requires zero explanation, and works for every fitness level.

Rob Gray's lens is about transfer and ecological relevance. From a constraints-led perspective, even warmup time is an opportunity to build movement patterns that carry into grappling. Generic locomotion (jogging, shuffles, karaoke) doesn't create grappling-specific affordances. A more ecologically-aligned warmup would involve contact, weight-sharing, and positional awareness: things that actually resemble what students are about to do.

Both are right. The standard warmup wins on consistency and simplicity, which matters a lot for new coaches and mixed-level classes. But there's real value in the Gray approach when conditions allow.

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