The benefits of rest and recovery and massages were discussed in the past two columns as some of the things you should typically do post-workout to help with your fitness goals outside of the gym.
But what about before you workout?
Enter warm ups.
Warming up is a vital part of working out. A good warm up can make all the difference between a bad workout and a good workout. But yet, many people—I am also guilty of this—have been either skipping warm ups entirely or doing just a short or incorrect warm up.
Warming up, stretching and cooling down correctly are fundamental, yet often overlooked, parts of any training regimen. While these components to training are very basic, many people tend to skip over a proper warm-up, stretch and cool down.
These aspects are perhaps the forgotten elements of training because they are techniques that you never see much of in gyms compared to the amount of work done with the dumbbell and barbells.
To lift heavy weights, break records, and add slabs of muscle to your frame, you’ll need a great warm up to unlock your full potential before every workout. This was reiterated by my new massage therapist during a recent visit to the Chakra Massage Studio.
A good warm up shouldn’t take much more than 10 to 15 minutes and could save you months of lost time as warming up may reduce your risk of injury.
So what are some benefits of a proper warm up?
A proper warm up gradually accelerates your cardiovascular system, increases blood flow to your muscles and raises your body temperature.
If you have a personal trainer, he or she should be insisting that you warm up, ensuring that it is done properly, and making sure that your warm up routine pays attention to the muscle group you will be placing emphasis on, on any given day.
The main benefit to warming up is injury prevention because the blood will be pumping to the target area, lowering the chance of a muscle pull/tear or joint injury.
However, warming up isn’t just a safety precaution; it also has positive effects on an athlete because after a warm-up, strength and focus should be peaked. Warming up has many physical and mental benefits.
Although I am not providing it for this article, research has shown that many injuries that occur during training are caused by improper warm up before exercise.
Warming up is a great way to increase flexibility before a heavy set. Training the muscles through an identical range of motion to the lift that is to be done stretches the muscle properly and prevents a pull of any muscle about to be trained.
You can warm up by mirroring your lifts with little or no weight, so that when it’s time to hit the squat rack you will find yourself much more flexible. Also, after twelve warm-up reps the knees are completely lubricated as well, and there is no cracking or popping to be heard.
You can also warm up by riding a stationary bike; skipping or jumping rope – this can begin slowly and gradually pick up speed. Further, you can warm up by jogging in place.
Getting into the groove for an exercise is important. Take as many sets as you need until the form for an exercise feels natural. Once all the kinks are worked out, a proper warm up has been completed.
A lot of times lifters will get to the gym and get right into their sets with no warm up or just one warm up with the bar. While a little is better than none, a proper warm up can do you a world of good.
Warm ups not only prepare your muscles and joints for exercise but your brain too. Use your warm up as an opportunity to get in the zone so you can concentrate fully on the workout to follow.
There is also such a thing as a dynamic workout. If you have ever seen persons beginning their weight training by spending the first 10 minutes or so in an aerobics class, then those persons would have benefited from a dynamic workout. Aerobics are great for cardio so if you haven’t tried it yet you’re missing out. Speak to your trainer about it.
Stay tuned, friends.
Email questions or comments to emmersoncampbell@gmail.com
