Safe Time On Your Warm-Up Now, Get (Not) Injured Later
You are happy you found a time slot to squeeze in a short and intense workout.
“Gotta be home with the family for dinner in 60 minutes.”
Ok, let's see, I'll do bench-press, bent over rows, curls and squats...."
The Gym is empty this evening and the squat rack is free.
"Alright, I`ll start with squats"
Boom, without wasting any time, you load the bar with weight.
Nothing crazy, 30 kg total.
"Alright, off we go"
You bend your knees, and the first two reps run smoothly, but on your way up at the 3rd rep, you feel a sudden and sharp pain at the back of your leg.
Lucky you.
Standing in the squat rack, you throw the weight off.
No problem.
The annoyed sound of the other Gym rats are the last thing you care about.
Immediately you touch your hamstrings.
A visit to the doctor confirms your gut feeling.
A severe pulled hamstring.
The doctor starts to explain "This will keep you away from the Gym for a couple of days up to 6 weeks...."
"Damn, this can't be real. I didn't work this hard for the last 8 months to see my gains go down the drain."
The 5 years before you neglected your physical health, which makes it even more painful.
Three weeks later you`re back in the Gym, taking things easy.
Only this time your routine looks a little different.
You are in a rush again, but you do not start your workout without a warm-up.
The Fitness program that I prescribe to my clients always includes a form of warm-up.
Sometimes it's a mixture of 5 minutes of cardio, followed by 3-5 exercises of dynamic stretching. Sometimes it's just the dynamic stretching.
But it never consists of just cardio.
5 of 7 minutes of warm-up are always well invested.
Why You Need To Warm-Up
A warm-up is not a guarantee to stay injury-free. Science has found different results. Some studies show that a proper workout can prevent injuries1 while others are not clear2 on that.
But...
Why should you bother about a warm-up before you hit the weights?
It turns out, for a couple of reasons.
Everybody profits from a warm-up that takes no more than 7-10 minutes, but older lifters even more.
If you spend 40 hours or more at your desk, your body is simply not prepared to go from 0 to 100 at the flick of a switch.
I don`t know about you, but I feel stiff after a long day in my office chair, even when I worked from a standing position a couple of times.
This is why a proper warm-up before hitting the weights is super important, especially as we get older.
Why?
Getting older means that our tendons and ligaments aren’t as springy as they used to be, which means we’re more likely to pull something.
The majority of my clients have passed their 35th or 40th birthday.
Injury prevention is goal number 1.
A general warm-up (treadmill) gets their blood running better through their body and raises the core temperature, while a specific warm-up (e.g. dynamic stretching your body for the workout to follow) prepares them for the motions to follow.
Because I have neglected the aspect of flexibility for years, I find an odd stiffness around my joints occasionally. I take it as a clear sign to invest both in pre-workout flexibility (dynamic stretching) and post-workout flexibility (static stretching).
It does not feel good to jump into the actual workout with your joints as stiff as a piece of wood.
With a targeted warm-up in place, your joints will be moving more smoothly and muscles stretching easier, making exercises feel a lot better.
Think of your muscles neglected muscles.
Sitting all day on your glutes, your back muscles could barely keep you in an upright position, your hips are tight, so is your lower back.
Which means?
We have to wake up those muscles first.
But not by getting straight under the bar. You might pull a muscle or the biceps tendon gets irritated.
A solid warm-up gets those muscles going and boosts your performance.
Researchers found out that you can increase your performance by as much as 79%.
Last but not least you win the mental game.
A short but efficient warm-up helps you focus on your upcoming session.
You change from chill-mode to workout mode.
Think of it like a Formula 1 Driver. One round of warm up, getting those tires warmed up for better grip and performance.
When the light turns from red to green, you are ready with all your senses.
In a nutshell, a warm-up helps provides safety, flexibility, muscle function, and overall workout effectiveness.
Which Type Of Warm-Up Is The Best
Most people in the Gym hop on any cardio machine and then get to work.
While this is much better than skipping warm-up, there is a better way.
Enter dynamic stretching.
Think of it like this: You're doing movements that mimic what you'll be doing in your workout. So, if you’re about to hit some lunges or squats, you target the muscles being trained later.
Why not do static stretching?
While static stretching has tremendous value in increasing your range of motion and boosting your performance, it is best to be done after a workout.
The reason being…during our workouts, we want the muscles to contract fast and powerful.
Static stretching can lower the readiness and output of your muscular contractions.
So switch to Dynamic Stretching.
How is dynamic stretching different?
The first part of the movement is similar, but then comes a difference:
At the end of the stretch, you contract a muscle
You activate those muscles, which are then ready to be used.
Thereby you stabilize the tiny muscles around your joints, bringing stability
Now let`s get into the actual exercises.
Before we do, bear in mind that this is a selection which I both use with my clients and for myself.
There are many more exercises to choose from, but these will give you a good start.
The Warm-Up Exercises
Band Pull-Apart
How to do them
Hold a resistance band in front of the chest, and pull it apart until your blades touch each other
Benefits
Activates shoulders and upper back, preparing for pressing movements like push-ups, dips, or bench presses.
Arm swings
How to do them
Stand shoulder-width apart or jog in place. Move arms in circular motions forward and backward. Perform for 30 seconds or 10-20 circles.
Benefits
Increases shoulder range of motion and brings blood flow to shoulders.
Hand-Walk3
How to do them
Stand with your legs straight and hands on the floor. Walk your hands out with your legs straight, then walk your feet back to your hands
Benefits
Engages core, shoulders, arms, upper and lower back, quads, and hamstrings.
Stretches all of the back side of your body.
Forward Lunge/Forearm to the instep
How to do them
Take your left elbow and reach down to your instep while keeping your back knee off the ground. Then move your left foot and push your hips straight to the sky, pulling your tore toward your shin. Then, step forward into the next lunge.
Benefits
Improve flexibility in hips, hamstrings, lower back, torso, groin, hip flexors and quads.
Hip Crossover
How to do them
Keep your arms extended out at your sides and your shoulders, torso, and feet in contact with the ground.
Benefits
Build mobility and strength in your torso.
Sumo Squat to Stand
How to do them
Bend from your waits, and grab your toes. Keeping your arms straight, inside your knees, pull your hips down until they`re between your ankles, and lift your chest up. Now try to straighten your legs, holding toe your toes as you straighten out your hips and knees.
Benefits
Flexibility in your hamstrings, groin, ankles, and lower back.
How to make use of this
Over time you will get a feeling of which exercises to choose from the ones presented above.
For instance, my favorite ones are the
Forward lunge/Forward to the instep
Sumo squat to stand
Arms Swings
Hand-Walk
Think about the exercises you have planned for the day and pick your dynamic stretching exercises accordingly.
4-5 exercises are enough for every warm-up.
Enjoy your workout and think long-term.
Fradkin, A. J., Gabbe, B. J., & Cameron, P. A. (2006).Title: "Does warming up prevent injury in sport? The evidence from randomised controlled trials?"
Thacker, S. B., Gilchrist, J., Stroup, D. F., & Kimsey, C. D. (2004). Title: "The impact of stretching on sports injury risk: a systematic review of the literature."
Taken from “Core Performance - Mark Verstegen”