Why Do Warm-ups?

Perhaps you're low on time. Perhaps you only have a 45 minute lunch break, and you want to get in the maximum number of exercises you can within that time frame. Or you just don't think you need to warm up, can just jump right into the deep end of the pool. Or you think that all you need to do is a five minute jog, and then can step into the power rack and do heavy squats with impunity. Either way, if you're skimping or skipping your warm ups, you're cruising for a bruising, and are just asking for trouble. Warm ups are essential, but that begs the question: what is an effective warm up, how long should you take, and what are the benefits?

The reason you should warm up is simple. Warming up helps your soft tissue warm up, and that will in turn prevent them from being damaged during the course of your work out. Your soft tissue is your muscle, sinews and tendons, and in order to actually warm them up, several factors should be taken into account. The first is the warmth of your gym or home. A colder building or room will obviously determine the amount of time necessary in order to achieve the same warm up as a hot one. Your age is another determining factor; older people require more time than younger. Injuries in general need longer and more careful warm ups.

There is a second and essential aspect of warming up that is often overlooked, and that is the manner in which it will help you 'groove' your exercise into your mind. This is especially true with lifting free weights. By warming up with just the bar or very light weights, you train your body in how to do the exercise. This is adapted to by your neuromuscular system, so that when you actually attempt a workout set, you can focus on simply exerting force on the weight, and not distract yourself in trying to do the exercise properly.

How should you warm up? Anything that mimics the range of motion to be exercised in the workout is good. Thus, if you are going to be squatting, five or ten minutes on an exercise bike is excellent, due to it following the right range of motion. Even better is a rowing machine, since that also incorporates the arms, shoulders and back. If you are doing free weight exercises, than you should also warm up with lighter loads. Of key importance however is that your warm up exercises not interfere with the amount you can do in your work set; your warm ups should do that, warm you up, and not fatigue you. Therefore it's always wise if doing a barbell exercise to do perhaps eight reps with just the bar, 5 sets at 60%, and 3 sets at 75%. This will get you in the right mind frame, will prepare your body for the heavier load, and help you 'groove' the exercise.

Moral of the story: if you don't have time for your warm ups, you don't have time to exercise. Attempting to make significant gains in the gym or at home without warming up is asking for injury, and that is rank foolishness. Put aside time to warm up, which should consist of some five or ten minutes of relevant aerobic exercise and reps before each exercise at substantially lower difficulty so as to not interfere with the actual work set. That done, you should do better due to greater tissue resilience and improved 'grooving' of the work out.

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