We are always looking for ways to improve our performance. One way to help ensure that you have a great workout is to warm up beforehand. Warming up not only gets your body ready for physical activity but can also help prevent injuries. So, if you’re looking to get the most out of your next fitness session, be sure to take the time to warm up properly!
These days, there is soo much emphasis on warming up properly by performing over 30 minutes worth of “activation” drills to ensure that the session target muscles are activated for the session ahead, but a big factor in why this has been taken too far is most likely the poor setup of the exercise which then leads to poor execution of the movement. This then means that you are going to think that you aren’t working the target muscles as well as you’d like.
Having a structured warm-up will aid in improving your exercise form, reduce the risk of injury, improve exercise technique and actually improve your mental performance before the session.
Self-explanatory this. If you are one that walks straight onto the gym floor and starts your exercises straight away, then you have missed out on the benefits of warming up. You have increased the risk of getting injured and you may notice that it might be harder to reach the training loads you know you can train at.
In our opinion, if your warm up lasts longer than 15 minutes, then it’s pretty long, and you’ll likely start to feel a little bit fatigued before your session. Yes, it’s important to warm up for a sufficient amount of time, but at the end of the day, you are there to train and get in and out of the gym in the most productive way possible.
When you have finished your warm up, you are ideally feeling prepped and ready to smash your first working set. Below are the ideal time frame and recommendations for a workout that will have you prepped and ready to go for your session.
1: Heart raising activity
Ideally, this is a low intensity cardio exercise that slowly raises your heart rate to help increase blood flow around your system. This can last anywhere between 2-5 minutes. Some examples include Assault bike, rower, cross trainer machine, etc.
NOTE: If you have been sitting at your desk all day or you’re training in the morning, this is essential. If you have had a commute to work such as a long walk or riding a bike to the gym, you may be able to give this step a miss.
2: Movement specific warm up
Some simple activation drills are ideal after a heart raising activity that can get your muscles primed and ready to go for your session. A great exercise that we like to use at OSF for warming up the glutes is crab walks, bridges, single leg squats etc. Ideally, spend 2-3 minutes doing this before jumping into the next stage.
The final process of an ideal warm up is by actually completing the first exercise itself, just at lighter loads. This prepares your muscles and joints for the movement that it will complete shortly priming them for best performance. Here you will spend 2-3 lighter warm up sets and gradually increase the loads of each set to get as close to your starting working set weight.
Although it is important to warm up before any physical activity, it is especially essential before a training session. Not only will you perform better, but you’ll also be less likely to get injured. By incorporating some of the methods we’ve discussed in this post, you can make sure your body is ready for anything. Are there any specific warming-up exercises that work best for you? Let us know in the comments below!
