How to warm up properly: 3 favorite exercises of the top Red Bull Ice Cross rider

How to warm up properly: 3 favorite exercises of the top Red Bull Ice Cross rider

Leon Stetsenko performs these exercises before every race.

Warming up is the most important part of any training session. Let’s talk about competitions. In Red Bull Ice Cross races, the main thing is not only to overtake your rivals, but also not to get injured, because, as a rule, there are still several stages of the competition ahead. Athletes are most familiar with the rules of warming up before the start. Top rider Leon Stetsenko shared his favorite exercises with “Championship”.

Exercise 1: Lunge with stretching the back of the thigh.

Number of approaches: 3 for each leg

The first exercise really helps me to stretch not only the groin muscles in the longitudinal twine, but also the hamstrings. By straightening my knee and bending over on the exhale, I completely relax my muscles.

Exercise 2: Half twine with forward bend

Number of approaches: 3 for each leg

The second exercise helps me very well to stretch my knees and groin muscles. The load on them is due to your own weight.

Exercise 3: Alternating bends to the legs from a standing position.

Number of approaches: 5

Here again the hamstrings are involved, as it is very important to stretch them for the subsequent load on the track. Plus the back and torso. In principle, such a general warm-up helps to warm up the muscles, which are rarely used during normal exercises or skating. But it will help your performance in the race.

When should I do the exercises?

You can’t stretch on a cold body, so you should always warm up first, and then stretch – I do it almost just before the race, right up until I get to the track, and even at the start I can sometimes keep stretching if I have time.