SttB Twitterchat Bonus – Warm Ups
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Straight to the Bar Twitterchat on Warm Ups. As a special thank you to everyone who came out here is an article written exclusively for chat participants.
Getting the Most Out of Your Warmup
Warming up before workouts or competitions is always an interesting subject. Everyone has different methods and different opinions on what works best. Warming up can be broken into two categories:
General Warm Ups usually consist of some light cardio work or calisthenics. The purpose of the general warm up is to increase your overall body temperature, raise your heart rate slightly and get the body accustomed to the demands that are coming
Specific Warm Ups consist of exercises that target specific joints and muscle groups related to the work you are going to be doing in your workout or competition. The exercises you choose should closely mimic the demands of your workout.
It’s always a good idea to include some form of both general and specific warm ups in your pre-work routine. An example of a good warm up would be getting on a stationary bike for a few minutes or jumping rope as your general warm up, followed by some pushups, pullups and bodyweight squats or lunges as a specific warm up. Remember, try to mimic the demands of your workout in your warm up.
Generally you should try to avoid static stretching pre-workout. The research shows that static stretching actually weakens the muscles and any range of motion benefits are lost in the short term. So the extra flexibility you gain from that stretch is gone by the time you get to your main workout, but you’ve compromised your strength as a result.
One of the best methods of warming up is to use dynamic mobility exercises. These exercises help to increase range of motion, mobility and bloodflow without compromising performance.
While most people feel they don’t have time to do a proper warm up, there is really no excuse. A good warm up can take 10 minutes or less and not only reduces the risk of injury, but can also improve performance during your workout. Just like you shouldn’t race the engine of your car without letting it get warm first, you shouldn’t jump into a max deadlift without warming up your body.
All the best in your training.
Chris Smith
Train Better Fitness
