A warm up can undoubtedly be advantageous if done properly, and in accordance to your desired training effect. Let's dig in and find out where you've been going wrong; you may be surprised!
When the time comes to prepare the body for a weight-training workout, most trainees have some sort of inherent inclination that the muscles need a warm up. Unfortunately, due to the laypersons limited understanding of physiology most people take one or two steps back during their warm up by working against the body. A warm up can undoubtedly be advantageous if done properly, and in accordance to your desired training effect. Let's dig in and find out where you've been going wrong; you may be surprised!
Training effect can be broken up into four basic categories, focus on the one you are currently involved in (if you don't know, that may explain some stagnation in your workouts and you may want to decide that first!).
For those of you saying "But I lift weights to tone up and I don't see that anywhere!", please do the world a tremendous favor and never use the word "tone" again unless you are talking about music. Whether people realize it or not, the word "toning" is used to describe a combination of fat loss and muscle gain. Why is fat loss not a category? Fat loss can actually happen in any one of those categories, provided the proper loading parameters and nutritional intake.
The following can be applied to any sport, pre-workout to serve as a general systemic warm up. Some may seem a bit off kilter, but believe me they are tried and true methods of some of the most successful strength coaches on the planet. These are a few of my favorites:
Wheelbarrow Push - Just like it sounds, load up a wheelbarrow with sand, dirt, chains, x-girlfriends, whatever you like. Pick a weight and a distance, and then add a little bit more each workout, which will do wonders for your core strength, grip strength, and increasing work capacity. This can be done in a parking lot, on a track, a construction site (which would be a great place to score a wheelbarrow, just make sure you ask to borrow it).
Find out how using wheelbarrows can increase your strength in Wheelbarrow GPP - A 7 Part Series.
Sled Dragging - Used by many pro football teams, this contraption is basically a flat piece of steel with a pole sticking out of the middle, attached to a harness and waist strap. Load up the weight, and drag it a given distance.
Iron Cross Squats - This one can be done in any weight room. Grab a pair of dumbbells, stand up and hold them out at your sides at arms length. Squat down as far as flexibility allows, and as you descend bring you arms in front of your body, still outstretched. At your bottom position hopefully your butt is almost on the ground, and the dumbbells are extended directly in front of you at eye level. Now reverse the motion as you stand up.
Jump Lunge W/ A Twist - Grasp a dumbbell (or plyoball) with two hands, and get into the bottom position of a lunge. Hold the object to the outside of your leading leg, with a good twist at the torso (in other words your belly button should be pointing the same direction as your fists). Now jump as high as you can, switch your lead leg in the air, and twist your torso and fists to finish at the outside of your new leading leg.
Swiss Ball Inner Unit Drills - A few basic exercises to help activate the inner unit (core) muscles of your torso and hip region that can be found on a diagram anywhere you find a swiss ball: Forward ball roll, Transverse ball roll, Kneeling balance.
Example Warm Up Routine:
General: 5 minutes on treadmill (optional), 5 minutes stretching (optional)
Specific: Planned Work Sets - 2 sets of 15 reps @ 100lbs
Warm up set: 60% of 15RM = 60lbs x 10 reps
Whether this article has reinforced your old warm-up habits or offered you some new warm-up strategies, I suggest you make full use of them. Applying these techniques to your workouts will offer the benefits of better workouts, faster progress, and fewer injuries.
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