Probably not your warm up but cooling down.
Get a foam roller or massage gun for post match recovery.
Okay, thanks I'll look into it
One thing I’ve noticed when working as an assistant in a team of 3, is so many referees will do the routine of a lap(ish) around the pitch, then do a decent amount of shuttles but then totally neglect the stretching or spend about 2 minutes across all stretches. Stretching before and after the game is key
The 3 most important things to do are to drink plenty of water, stretch alot and to get yourself fitter. Foam rollers and massage guns are fine if you're suffering from muscle soreness but you're dealing with the issue after the problem has occurred. They're useful tools but the best option is always to get fitter, stretch and hydrate. The more you do that the lesser the need for massage tools to stop muscle pain. You may still want massage tools to aid recovery because it helps you (everyone is different), but they're not the answer.
Dynamic before and static stretching after.
Think there is a lot of research now that shows static stretching is not as good pre exercise
Most refs I've worked with don't tailor their warm up to the ARs theye got. I always do. Having someone who's 65 do the same warm up as someone who's 18 is pretty daft. I'll do plenty of stretching and some light running/stretching and then its upto them what they do. Either come with me and do a bit more stuff (never too much, it's just a warm up) or do whatever else they want or don't want to do. It's their bodies, they should know what's best. I know it doesn't look choreographed and we aren't all in the same warm up gear but those things are nonsense at step 5/6 where the ability and fitness of ARs vary wildly. The idea of the warm up is to condition your body to be able to perform your best during the game and prevent injury. Thats it.
Yeah, I think the best warm up is one where you accept not everyone needs the same.
Opposite end of the scale, I remember a pretty thorough warm up once where at the end of it, me and the ref were about to head in and the other AR said "Oh, do you mind if I go and do a few extra laps?" Turns out, his other hobby was ultra-marathons and the warm up we'd done that was easily enough for me barely raised his heart rate. To get anything going, he needed to do an additional 3 laps at a 90% run, which I think might have just simply killed me if I'd tried to keep up!
Opposite end of the scale, I remember a pretty thorough warm up once where at the end of it, me and the ref were about to head in and the other AR said "Oh, do you mind if I go and do a few extra laps?" Turns out, his other hobby was ultra-marathons and the warm up we'd done that was easily enough for me barely raised his heart rate. To get anything going, he needed to do an additional 3 laps at a 90% run, which I think might have just simply killed me if I'd tried to keep up!
Macca
Active Member
This is something I wholeheartedly agree with - hydrate, stretch and get fitter. 24 months ago I would be in bits the day after 3 back to backs as it was the only form of exercise I did. Now I run 40+ miles a week outside games and learned over time that drinking enough water before, during and after exercise is key to my recovery.
A couple of very easy paced midweek runs will also make a huge difference, and I mean easy.
Also worth considering your boots. A poor fit may make your legs tense more during movement without you even knowing it. I also got some gel insoles from amazon to put inside to help the cushion, and it made a world of difference. Just helps take the stress of the feet and legs.
Building up the muscles by doing more regular exercise will help alot. There's lots of reasons why people don't get themselves fitter and put their faith in other things as miracle cures but getting fitter is the best thing you can do long term and water/stretching on the day.
We've all seen refs with all the massage guns, smart watches, energy drinks and sachets etc and yet they are clearly not very fit. They'd be far better saving their money and focus on getting themselves fitter and building up there muscles by doing more frequent exercise, eating better etc.
I'm not criticising anything that supports or supplements basic fitness, they're useful aids. But that's all they are. If you want your legs to hurt less after exercise then get them used to exercising more ad for longer. You'd be amazed by the results
To me it's all about tailoring that warm up to the 3 of you that are there. I dont know what my ARs need so I ask them. Do they have any injuries for example?
Ultimately its a couple of very informal questions on the way out to the warm up and I can figure out roughly what to do/not do.
Often ARs will ant to do more of a warm up than I do. Mine is brief but it's purposely that way because I've been on football pitches for 30 years, I know what I need. But ultimately I'm trying to get the message across that aside from some stretching and shuttles etc I want the ARs to do whatever it is they need to do to get themselves ready for the game. I dont want them to just do what I do because it looks pretty.
PinnerPaul
RefChat Addict
Well said, although not all 60+ are at the same fitness levels or indeed 18 year olds, but get your point!
PinnerPaul
RefChat Addict
Personally find that 1 lap jogging, 5 mins stretches, some shuttles and 1 or 2 widths of the pitch at slow, medium, sprint thirds works for me.
Most refs/ARs I've been out with do that or less, a few a bit more, but not that many at the levels I do.
Personally the less I warm up he more I ache the next day - but that could just be me.
Most refs/ARs I've been out with do that or less, a few a bit more, but not that many at the levels I do.
Personally the less I warm up he more I ache the next day - but that could just be me.
Towards the end of my time at L3 my knees were shot, one more so than the other, and doing some of the standard warm up exercises like lunges and skipping would have been madness, so I just did my own thing. One L2A referee didn't like it as he said it sent out the wrong message to anyone watching, when he insisted I joined in I pointed out he would probably be asking for a stadium announcement for a replacement assistant, funnily enough he backed down at that point. In reality I would have been fine, but the point of a warm up is to make sure you are ready, not to make you look good.
Do any observers actually mark mark down for officials not wearing identical warm up gear or not choreographing warm ups like you're at the local theatre?
When people say "it doesn't look professional", to whom doesn't it look professional? Nobody cares. The two teams and management teams are busy with their own warm ups.
Observers will rarely see warm ups as they will be in the board room drinking tee and coffee and eating biscuits. And I don't mean that in a negative way, rather why would they go out into the cold when they don't need to.
The argument, which I have never bought into, is that players, coaches and spectators will take notice of the officials' warm up and think "oh, they look professional, they'll be great today". When I first got L3 I was told by my coach that I must buy identical warm up tops for my assistants, a completely pointless activity as I was (and just about am) size medium, my assistants ranged from small to XXL.
I've never had a coach but it would appear that most level 3s are providing identical warm up tops to ARs from my experience this year. I've only had one that hasn't.
We used to all wear suits to matches and absolutely nobody thought that we would be great because of that. It's all such nonsense.
