Preparing the body for action!
Any intense physical training session should be done following a proper warmup specific to the type of training you are about to perform. Warming up is critical for training safely and preventing injury during any workout. With that being said, Its important to know just how to warm up properly before performing a strength training session.
Today your in luck, you've just stumbled across the exact breakdown you need to prepare you for strong, pain free strength training sessions for the rest of your days. lets get to it.
Get the blood flowing;
1) Start by getting the heart rate up and the body warm.
You can jog, jump around, dance, stomp around your house or do some vigorous house cleaning even for just a few minutes. 5minutes is great. This gets the joints mobile and the blood flowing throughout your whole body.
Get Limber;
2) Do a bit of Dynamic Stretching.
Static stretching does not belong anywhere near the beginning of a workout. It will actually interfere with performance, however; dynamic stretching is great. A short 5minute targeted dynamic stretching routine before a workout will increase blood flow to the muscles you are going to work and improve mobility to those joints and ligaments allowing for better form and more fluid movement patterns.
Get Focused;
3) Do 1 or 2 light sets of your first exercise.
This is a very targeted warmup. Gets those muscles primed for your working sets and helps to properly establish mind-muscle connection.
altogether this warmup should take about 10-15minutes. Think of it as pregaming for your muscles.
"But, I don't have time to warm-up"
If you have time to work out, you have time to warm up!
If your spending time dilly-dallying between sets (which I see most of you doing) you have time to warm-up. What you have to do is make it quick AND efficient. It shouldn't be a time consuming task.
"And, what about post workout?"
Should I be incorporating a cool down after exercise?
If you have time at the end of your session it is smart to do a short cool down. This will ease your body out of strenuous activity, lower your chance of injury, promote blood flow, reduce body temperature, and reduce stress to your heart and other muscles.
1) 5-10minutes of light cardio
This is pretty straightforward. Start with a light jog and ease to moderate paced walking.
2) Static stretching.
This is where static hold stretching comes into play. If you have time now is a great time as the body is still warm. Static stretching helps reduce lactic acid buildup, lessening the chance of muscle cramps and stiffness. Also- the more often you make time to stretch the more mobile you will become improving your range of motion.
On days your not feeling particularly energetic, or on
scheduled rest days on your workout rotation, take some
time to focus on these more relaxing exercises for added benefit to your mind and
body.
If you've been injured in your past, and your learning to warmup for future injury prevention and continued workout progression, I can help!
I create custom
workout programs
from warmup to cooldown
and everything in-between
as well as nutritional guidance
for busy people just like you
who want to achieve their fat loss and performance goals!