How to Warm up Properly
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The longer I am in this Industry, the more important I find warm ups to be. It is essential to stay injury free and healthy. I used to just hop in the squat rack and start working out, but I find that it gets you injured and I get a better workout if I warm up first for 10-15 minutes.
For most clientele I would rather have them warm up and do stretching or mobility circuits for 20-30 minutes and make sure the body is functioning properly before any type of actually lifting. People are horrifically tight and just don’t move well. The last thing they need to do is a loaded movement that adds dysfunction to an already bad movement. After that, it really depends on what the client needs and/or wants. Most people benefit from strength work in the 4-6 rep ranges with a compound total body lift. After that a bodyweight circuit and cardio works well to end with. If you do it right your workouts end under 45-60 minutes. How do you know when your body is functioning properly and your warmed up? I have come to the conclusion that if you are on the verge of breaking a sweat, breathing and rate rate is elevated, and you can properly do a overhead squat for 5-10 reps then that tells me the right joints are loose enough to allow proper movement and the right muscles are working at the right times. There are many ways to achieve those 3 things, and everyone does it differently, and it mostly depends on what your workout is going to be. If your doing speed/agility workout then your warm up will be different than if you are getting ready for a max effort squat. Likewise your typical weekend warrior, or stay at home mom, may have completely different warm ups and could spend upwards of 45 minutes on mobility, flexibility, general physical prep, etc, just to end with a few strength exercises. Regardless there are a few principals I follow which are…
1. Joint by joint
My general philosophy is influenced by the joint by joint approach from Gray Cook and Michael Boyle. I am no expert on this, but basically this approach says that every joint in your body requires different amounts of stability and mobility. You could make the case its all about stability/strength, where some joints need just less stability (hips, shoulder) where other joints need more stability (lumbar spine, knees). In anatomy and physiology, structure dictates function. Structurally joints are all different anatomically speaking, and thus their function will differ. Lumbar vertebra are designed for compressive forces, which is why they are so large,whereas the thoracic vertebra allow more extension and rotation about their joints. Knees are only a hinge joint and only allow movement in one plane, which is why they need lots of stability about that joint. This little charts drives my whole training philosophy….
2. Small —-> big
Starting with small movements allows the stabilizers to adequately warm up and prepare the joint for bigger more demanding positions/movements.
3. Slow —> Fast
Fast, explosive movements are dangerous because the joint may not be ready for the forces involved in these types of movements. Big, slow movements help lubricate the joints and turn the muscles on around the joint and help prime the system for activity.
4. Flow
The better a warm up flows from one movement to the next, the less time it takes and easier it is to get from position to position. And like bruce lee says, “Be water, my friend.” I originally got this structure from Michael Boyle, and also certain concepts from Smitty, from Diesel Crew. Things may look similar, but to each his own. I usually cannot achieve all these points in order, and usually have to combine/eliminate certain elements.
a. Foam Roll – loosen up the density of the muscle to restore elastic properties. A rubber band does not work well tied up in knots, which is analogous to a muscle with knots.
b. Stretch – use isolated stretches and move towards total body stretches that link the kinetic chain and the fascial network together. Restores muscles to proper length.
c. Mobilize and Activate (Ground Based) – Use ground based stationary movements to warm up muscles that are dormant during daily activities ( glutes, core, back, scapular stabilizers). Coordinate muscle mind connection and increase awareness.
d. General Movement Prep (movement and ground based) – Get moving in 3D! Move in all planes with slower dynamic stretches and progress into quicker based movements. Must be focused and alert. Get heart rate and breathing elevated.
e. Specific Movement Prep (movement based) – Move faster using 80-90% speed and explosiveness. Movement is specific to the demand that is required for the specific activity. Must be mentally dialed in and alert.
5. Integrate the parts into the whole
This is based on the concept of relative stiffness and fascia connections, which is for another post! For example, stretch the hamstrings calf complex independently and then tie them into full body stretch/mobilizations. An example would be a simple hamstring and calf stretch and them tie them in together with a toe touch.
6. Work from the inside-out
I think warm up is a good time to do simple core work to warm up the torso area. I like certain crunches for people to increase the mind-muscle connection because most people have trouble “bracing” their core and tieing it in to movements. This goes against joint-by-joint, by promoting lumbar flexion, but I am going against the grain on this one. Simple hip mobility and shoulder mobility exercises fall into here as well because they stabilize the torso.
So what would all this look like in a 5-10 min warm up? It depends on what your workout is going to look like, but generally here is a short 2 part warm up.
Again I was able to accomplish 1) a decent overhead squat, 2) got my heart rate up, and 3) I was breaking a sweat when I was done. Try it out!