This exercise is a great warmdown after your workout. It will help decompress the spine and stretch worked muscles, which will speed recovery. Best of all, it’s simple and relatively easy to do.

1. Step up to or jump up to a pullup bar so that your are hanging with your hands about shoulder width apart. You can use a palm away or palm toward you grip. The palm away seems to give better stretching results.

2. Relax your body as you hang straight down, arms extended.

3. Hang about 10-15 seconds then, drop to the floor, relax and then, jump back onto the bar for the next repetition.

Generally 3-4 reps is all that is needed for the warmdown.

This is a great warmup or warmdown exercise. They are particularly good for warming up before speed sprinting. And, they are much like the skips or skipping you did as a child, only greatly exaggerated. When skipping, envision you are running a sprint because that is the position of the arms and knees/legs.

1. Mark out a 20-yard distance. Begin at one end of the distance in an upright position.

2. Step forward onto your right leg for the first skip. As the leg touches the ground it will hit first and then with your knee flexed it will skip for the second hit. At this point, your right hand is in front of you, hand in air and upper part of arm from elbow to shoulder approximately level with the ground. The left hand is cocked at the hip and the left knee should be striking your chest lightly. This is how high you want to get the knees on each skip.

3. Continue forward onto your left leg. As it hits and skips the left arm is up near the face in front of you, biceps horizontal to the ground and the right hand is cocked at the hip while the right knee is as high as you can get it toward the chest.

4. The set is complete when you have reached your 20-yard marker.

Hops can be done on one or two legs and are generally done for warmups prior to beginning exercise programs; they are also used by athletes as warmdowns to prevent detraining of speed after a workout. The goal of a hop is to warm the joints. Also, you can jump low or high, but your want to keep you knees fairly straight in a not-quite locked position.

1. Begin to making of a distance of about 10 yards. Start at the first marker.

2. Hop on your left leg, raising your right leg so it doesn’t touch the ground. Use your arms to help balance yourself as you hop sideways, clearing the ground with your hopping foot 3-4 inches on each hop. Hop to the 10-yard marker.

3. Once at the 10-yard marker, change legs and hop sideways back to the beginning marker on the right foot.

4. Repeat for a total of 3 sets.

Notes: An alternate movement is to hop on both feet, facing forward, much like a mini-broad jump. Extend your distance to 20 yards as you begin at one marker and go to the 20-yard marker. Jump forward about 3-4 feet each jump, landing on the balls of your feet. One pass of distance, i.e., 20 yards in this case, is 1 repetition.