Rent Free: Warm Up

Something that has been living in my head rent free is the thought of warming up.

A warm up is what gets you ready for what you are going to be doing during your workout.

Getting ready for your workout should never be taken lightly and it should take you at the very least 15 minutes to get ready.

As you already know, at the gym we spend time getting ready for each workout.

This is because a warm up is the most important part of your workout.

Let’s go over what a warm up is and is not.

A warm up is NOT! Walking or running on a treadmill for 5 minutes. Are you warm, yes, but… you are not ready for your workout.

A warm up IS! Moving your body through a series of movements that replicate what you are about to do in your workout. This gets your blood flowing and muscles activated.

A warm up is NOT! Flailing your arms in front of you and putting 315 on a barbell and going to town with your exercise.

A warm up IS! Loading up a barbell with lighter weights and performing 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps and slowly moving toward 50-60% of your working weight.

A warm up is NOT! 5 minutes of static stretching.

A warm up IS! 15 minutes of movement that take you through all 3 planes of motion in order to properly activate and loosen up your muscles.

A warm up is NOT! Time to stand around and talk to your friends.

A warm up IS! The perfect time to work on any and all injury prevention movements.

If you do not do a proper warm up then you will put yourself in danger of a serious injury.

Take the time to save yourself from injury, spend the time to get your body ready for your workout.

Adam