The smart way to warm up
It may surprise some people, but warming up is one of the most important things you can do while working out.
It’s often overlooked and considered as a last-minute thought as you’re lacing up your trainers and walking out of the changing rooms.
However, I’d like to present you a different perspective on the importance of warming up, and the smart way to go about your warm up.
Warming up is important for a couple of reasons, first of all, it gets your body woken up and ready to have a good workout. If you just start training cold, you will never be able to perform at your best. The warm up is ‘greasing the groove’ ahead of a successful workout.
Secondly, and most importantly, a thorough warm up will go a long way towards preventing injury. If you get injured, that means time out of the gym and regression on your goals. Not to mention the potential pain and cost of therapy to get right again.
Preventing injury will allow for more consistent, more effective training. So, what is the smart way to warm up?
- Take your time – don’t try and rush through the warm up. It’s important and deserves at least 10 minutes of attention
- Start with a general-movement practice to raise your heart rate – rowing, skipping, running around are all good ways to get the heart rate elevated and blood starting to pump
- Move onto dynamic mobility – this is aimed at increasing range of motion through dynamic stretching. Foam rolling, yoga poses and dynamic stretching are all great to gain more range of motion in your joints
- Finish with movement-specific practice – if you’re going to be doing squats, finish your warm up with some body weight, and then empty barbell squats, before loading the weights on
If you follow these principles you are not only preventing injury, but warming the body up in a way that is going to maximise performance in the coming workout.
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