Warm-up and cool-down

Every plan in this app starts with a study and a clock. Neither is a warm-up. This page describes a plain way to arrive at the first round ready, and a plain way to leave it, using movements that already live in the app. It is general practice, not a programme written for you; if you have a condition, an injury or a coach with a different routine, theirs wins.

Why bother

A warm-up raises the body's temperature and takes the joints through the ranges the session is about to use, so the first hard round is not the first time the shoulders have turned that day. A cool-down brings the heart rate down gradually and gives you a few minutes to write the one thing you noticed, which is what the corner notes are for.

Ten minutes before the first bell

Three minutes of easy movement. Walk, skip, or bounce on the spot. The Rhythm bounce study is the shape: heels light, knees soft, hands home, small.
Two minutes of joints. Ankle circles, knee bends, hip circles, arm circles both ways, neck turns. Slow, full, comfortable.
Three minutes of footwork. Steps in and out and a few pivots at a walking pace. Step in, Step out and the Footwork ladder are exactly this, done slowly.
Two minutes of shadow at half effort. Jabs and one-twos with the hands relaxed. The Jab / return to guard and Jab → cross studies at half speed on the player make a fair guide for pace.

The Feet first plan is built from those footwork studies and can be run as a warm-up in its own right with the work times cut to a minute.

Between rounds

Breathe through the nose, drop the hands, and walk. The corner is a minute long for a reason. Do not stand still with the guard up between rounds; the guard is work.

Five minutes after the last bell

Two minutes of walking. Until the breathing is ordinary.
Two minutes of easy stretching. Calves, hip flexors, shoulders, chest. Hold each comfortably; nothing should hurt.
One minute writing. Open the corner notes and write the one thing you noticed, while it is still true.

What this page is not

It is not a rehabilitation plan, a mobility programme, or advice about pain. If something hurts before, during or after a session, the person to ask is a coach or a clinician, not an app. See what this app is not.

Studies: Foundations · Mechanics · Combinations · Defence and recovery · Conditioning drills · Situational. Every study page links back here.