Going through a series of stretches before the start of your shift is an excellent way to help prevent injuries and keep your body healthy. When doing this, add your defensive tactics strikes into your routine. Perform them slowly, concentrating on proper technique (including a good stance) and emphasize full range of motion so that you get a good stretch. After doing the technique slow for form and getting a good stretch, you may want to add a few more reps increasing speed and power.
Law enforcement trainer Gary Klugiewicz refers to this as a tactical warm up. Like your equipment check, it doesn’t take long, helps you retain muscle memory, assists in preventing injuries and helps get you mentally focused for your shift.
You can also use this concept before or after your workouts. Whether you run, lift weights or play sports, adding a few strikes and/or kicks to your pre-activity warm up (or post-activity cool down) will help keep your skills sharp and it only takes a few seconds.
Editor’s Note: If you haven’t yet done so, check out the related tip, “The one-rep equipment check.” from Corrections1 Contributor Steve Benusa.