No Zombies — explained.
Traditional warm-ups work.
I used them for years.
But over time, they became predictable.
Athletes weren’t engaged—they were surviving them.
So I changed the purpose.
Warm-up became a place to:
• fix weaknesses
• build athleticism
• explore new movement
• solve problems
• wake the nervous system up
Sometimes that looks like hard strength work.
Sometimes it looks like play.
Both can be stimulus.
I didn’t want athletes sleepwalking through preparation.
I didn’t want zombies.
That philosophy became the No Zombies Warm-Up Library,
where I store the ideas, games, progressions, and puzzles
we actually use with elite teams.
If this resonates, the library is linked in my bio.
Preseason warm-ups should look different.
Early in the year, we’re trying to build:
• stronger joints
• stronger connective tissue
• more resilient athletes
So we sneak strength work everywhere we can.
Isometrics.
Shoulder stability.
Trunk work.
Tug-of-war.
Awkward positions.
But we layer it into games and movement challenges so the athletes stay engaged.
This is one of the biggest missed opportunities in sports performance:
coaches treating warm-ups like wasted time.
The warm-up is where you can quietly build armor all season long.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
Everybody wanted the 3-pointer.
Setup:
• bowl the ball to your teammate
• pop it up off the foot
• set it back to the bowler
• send a high shot over the net
• sprint under and catch it in the cones
Scoring:
• one catch = 1 point
• both catches = 3 points
So now players are balancing:
• speed
• control
• teamwork
• decision-making
Four players moving at once.
Lots of touches.
Lots of problem-solving.
Exactly the kind of warm-up I love.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
Jedi Noodle.
One athlete attacks.
One athlete survives.
Version 1:
👉 feet stuck in “concrete”
So now the athlete has to:
• twist
• squat
• bend
• contort
just to avoid the noodle.
Version 2:
👉 now you can move your feet…
but only inside a tiny “phone booth.”
Suddenly the movement becomes faster, more reactive, and a whole lot sweatier.
This is why I love reactive mobility work.
It’s social.
It’s playful.
It gets athletes moving naturally instead of sleepwalking through static stretches.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
You have to catch it like this.
Setup:
• slam bounce over the net
• pass off a physio ball
• sprint under the net
• catch it in a cone
Simple idea…
but the ball doesn’t come out clean.
So now you’re dealing with:
• weird rebounds
• timing
• movement under pressure
Four players moving at once.
No downtime.
Plenty of problem-solving.
Not perfect… just challenging in the right ways.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
You don’t train this enough.
Constraint:
👉 one arm only
Pass. Set. Finish.
Same structure as a normal drill…
but now everything feels different.
That’s where you find:
• weak spots
• asymmetries
• things that usually get hidden
It’s not clean.
It’s not perfect.
But it’s useful.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
Quick feet… then chaos.
Partner runs quick foot drills while the other holds the noodle.
At any moment:
👉 launch
👉 react
👉 try to catch it
The best part?
Noodles never fly straight.
So every rep is different.
Simple way to add reaction and fun at the end of a warm-up.
2 balls. Everything happening at once.
Setup:
• two players serve at the same time
• ball hits the table
• teammates pass it back
• servers sprint under the net
• finish the play into a seated catch
What this creates:
• movement
• coordination
• timing under pressure
It’s not perfect…
but it forces players to deal with more than one problem at once.
That’s how you expand their movement library.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
One small change… big difference.
We added a towel.
Now the first contact becomes:
• a scoop
• a pop
• something unpredictable
From there:
• transition under the net
• reset the play
• finish into the target
Same basic structure…
but now the ball doesn’t behave the same way twice.
That forces:
• better reactions
• better adjustments
• more engaged athletes
You don’t need new drills.
You need better constraints.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
Protect yours. Destroy theirs.
That’s the whole game.
• partners hold hands
• one protects the cone
• one attacks everyone else
30 seconds of:
• movement
• laughter
• quick decisions
No setup. No overthinking.
Just get them moving and smiling.
Perfect way to wake up your zombies.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
I don’t have favorite ab exercises.
I have principles.
The core isn’t meant to be “on” all the time.
It needs to be:
• fluid
• reactive
• capable of quick, powerful stiffness
Think:
jump → brace
hit → snap
land → stabilize
That’s not constant tension.
That’s timing.
So instead of chasing one perfect exercise,
we chase variety that fits the principles.
Different positions.
Different challenges.
Different ways to produce and absorb force.
The goal isn’t the exercise—
it’s what the core learns to do.
More ideas like this inside the No Zombies Warm-Up Library (link in bio).
