The Science of Movement Prep
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Shaquille Quarterman wasn’t sure what to think when he saw the setup.
There was a deadlift bar. Weights. Resistance bands. Sliding disks. Everywhere the Hurricanes linebacker seemed to look on one particular corner of the field, there was some sort of equipment he was used to working with in the weight room, not on the pre-game sideline.
“I thought we had a workout before the game,” Quarterman said. “It was a little weird.”
It hasn’t taken long for something different to become the norm.
Five games into the season, Quarterman and more than a few of his teammates have embraced the voluntary pre-game movement prep that David Feeley, Miami’s Director of Strength & Conditioning, has brought to the Hurricanes program.
Before each game – home or away – it’s no longer unusual to see one of the Hurricanes using the deadlift bar to get in some squats while nearby, a teammate uses resistance bands to get his legs moving before taking the field for warmups.
Near all the strength and conditioning equipment, there’s also an area where players can seek out customized rolling and stretching from Feeley and other members of the strength staff. And even there there is creativity, with Feeley relying on anything he has at his disposal – including sideline equipment trunks – to help the Hurricanes prepare for kickoff.
The goal is simple: get the players’ bodies ready to work, while also making sure no one is dealing with any kind of lingering physical issue that may keep him from being at his best.
“The entire purpose behind it is to get them to be better movers. We’re looking at hip mobility and ankle mobility, just really the mobility of every moving joint,” Feeley said. “The more mobile they are, the better they’re going to move and the better movers they are, the more they’ll be able to run and express power and explosiveness. That’s really what we’re prepping them to do. And they’re loosening themselves up for pre-game. Pre-game is not where you want to warm up. You want to get in your rhythm in pre-game.”
While the sight of a football player lifting weights immediately before a game may be jarring, Feeley – a 14-year strength and conditioning veteran – has explained the science of movement prep to the Hurricanes.
Given the results his offseason workouts have delivered, his explanation has been enough and now, a growing number of Hurricanes have embraced the pre-warmup work.
“It’s nothing fatiguing. The repetitions don’t go above five. It’s very minimal,” Feeley said. “They might do a couple sets of it, but bare minimum, you want to do around 8-10 reps of something strenuous for there to be a real stimulus. Can you warm up a muscle doing something five times? Yeah, you can. You can train a movement pattern like that. It’s minimal and it’s controlled. Really, what we’re finding out is if there’s an issue.
“When they overhead squat, are they shifting? Do they have an ache or pain? We do this in the weight room every day and when we do this movement prep, we find out if there’s an issue before we load them up with heavy weight. … If there is an issue, then we get [head athletic trainer] Vinny [Scavo] and our training staff out there and say, ‘Hey, why don’t you take a look at this after we do it?’ Then you’re able to fix the problem before it becomes a real problem.”
Feeley estimates that on any given game day, between 35 and 40 players will stop by the sideline to go through movement prep. He concedes it’s not for everyone.
But many of those who have participated say it’s made a difference in how they feel, both physically and mentally.
“What we’re doing on game day is awesome and [Feeley’s] so into it. I feel like when you’re 100 percent devoted to something and you bring all the attention to it that he does every day, it’s huge,” defensive end Scott Patchan said. “And that’s just it, his attention and his attention to detail in general, I ask for a certain movement or a certain rollout and he’ll bring the equipment that’s necessary for that and we’ll be able to do it at any given time. … There’s no better way to get ready for a game.”
Added Quarterman, “You feel looser already. It’s not as much of a rush to make sure you loosen up as much as you can. You’re already loose from all the machines he brings out there. It helps you get that much more ready for the game, that much more alert.”
With Miami on the beginning end of a crucial stretch that has it playing six games in 36 days, Feeley understands one of the biggest challenges he faces in the coming weeks is helping the Hurricanes keep their bodies safe and healthy.
Movement prep, he says, will help. But eating right and continuing to build on the heavy lifting work the players did in the offseason will ultimately make the difference.
Head coach Manny Diaz has already noticed a difference in terms of how the Hurricanes look and feel.
The players, he notes, will say the same.
“I think one of the things that really appealed to me about Coach Feeley early on is that he has the great combination of understanding the science behind it, but at the same time, still having the toughness to do what he needs to do in that room,” Diaz said. “I think our players have seen that everything we’ve done, through our offseason program, to the summer, to the way we stretch before a practice, it’s to keep our guys healthy. It’s for their best interest and the early returns have been good. Of course, things can happen in football. But in terms of soft-tissue injuries that are on the more preventable side, I think our guys are off to a great start.”
And even last week, as Miami worked to battle back from a 28-point deficit, tight end Brevin Jordan said that push came in large part because of one person: Feeley.
“To come back down 28, that’s Coach Feeley. That’s 110s in the summer. That’s the sand pit on Fridays,” he said. “That’s Coach Feeley and a lot of credit to our staff. This team just doesn’t quit. You could just tell the energy.”
It’s all, Feeley says, deliberate and intentional.
“Everything done in here or out there, there’s a very serious reason behind it,” he said. “Nothing’s done on a whim. That’s not allowed at a place like this.”
