The warm-up is more than getting the heart rate up and
increasing body temperature. While these are two very important
characteristics to get going before training, the warm-up is too
important to generalize. Doing 5 minutes of low-intensity bike or
treadmill work followed by a few static stretches won’t get the job
done. Instead, the warm-up is an opportunity to enhance the workout
and overall movement quality.
In our warm-ups at State of Fitness, we have come up with specific
goals that we need to accomplish during our warm-up. In short, it is
our goal is to improve overall movement and prepare the body for
higher-intensity movements.
There are 5 primary goals for performing a proper warm-up:
1. Increase tissue temperature (which enhances the muscular
system)
2. To prepare the central nervous system (CNS)
3. To “prime” and improve mobility
4. To rehearse and improve overall movement patterns
5. To activate certain muscles to improve stability
Why are these 5 attributes so important? Let’s take a deeper look.
1. Increase tissue temperature (which enhances the muscular
system)
Whenever I think of this part of the warm-up it takes me back to when
I played sports in my youth. Before a practice or a game, we never
just jumped into it. We ramped it up with a proper warm-up or drills
to get us sweating. Even as a youngster, I could feel the value of
getting my heart rate up and breaking a sweat before battle. I would
feel more mobile and flexible and have more vigor.
Later I would see why this worked so well. When you increase core
body temperature you also improve muscle tissue extensibility. This,
in turn, enhances movement and performance. Muscles can contract
more rapidly and move more dynamically with higher tissue
temperatures. Any decent warm-up can do this so it’s hard to get this
wrong.
2. To prepare the central nervous system (CNS)
The Central Nervous System is so important to movement that I don’t
even have the proper education to dissect it. The CNS is an amazing
system that controls just about everything in our bodies. For someone
to optimize movement the CNS needs to get fired up. The better you
can get the CNS going, the better your movement will be.
For years I have been someone who likes to workout right when they
wake up. On at least 3-days of the week, I set my alarm for 3:50 am
and shoot to start my workout no later than 4:30 am. A good dose of
caffeine helps me get the CNS going that’s for sure, but that just
seems to get my mind going. Once I start to warm up and get a sweat
going, my body starts to wake up. Then when I start to throw a
medicine ball, jump some rope, or roll and crawl on the ground I can
feel my body preparing for the lifting to come. If I just rolled out of
bed and started swinging a bell in my basement, I don’t think my body
or mind would be ready.
This feeling happens because a proper warm-up can increase the
sensitivity of our nerve receptors and increase the speed of the
nervous system impulses. It’s the communication tool between the
nervous system and the muscular system before the workout.
3. To “prime” and improve mobility
For the past 5-10 years, the word mobility has been a hot topic in
the warm-up sector of working out. Just like anything in life, it seems
we go from doing none of this at all (my bodybuilding days), to doing a
little too much. But it seems like we have gotten ahold of the whole
mobility concept.
That being said it is extremely important. In my experience with
performing the Functional Movement Screen on hundreds of clients,
lack of mobility in the ankle, hip, and thoracic spine pops up most of
the time. So, enhancing and improving mobility is something we all
need a little bit more of. It’s the main reason why we warm up, to
improve the range of motion. If we want to squat that day, we will
need to enhance our ability to squat and that is where mobility work
comes in. It helps get synovial fluid into the joint lubricating it thus
helping us to move better.
4. To rehearse and improve overall movement patterns
I feel this is the most important part of the warm-up. It covers a lot of
bases and helps a variety of factors such as mobility, CNS, and tissue
temperature. It also gets the body and mind connected to the
movement ahead. We can use low-level loads and intensity of certain
movements to help improve that movement.
Let’s take the deadlift. If we are doing deadlifts that day I like to start
with some basic hip hinge movements with no load, say a good
morning. Then hop over to a light kettlebell deadlift. Then on to the
bar with a low load on it. By the time we are ready to crank up some
weight, the body already has primped the pump to lift with solid form.
Take a basketball player. Even if you are a three-point shooting
expert, you need to start out shooting a little closer. As you rehearse
the flick of the wrist and the release of the ball, you prepare the body
to shoot a little further. The same goes for lifting weights, running,
and cycling.
5. To activate certain muscles to improve stability
In this part of the warm-up, I want to wake up certain muscles that
commonly seem to be deficient. Most of our daily habits require
sitting a lot and performing poor posture. So, I want to take the
opportunity in the workout to ignite a flame in these sleepy muscles.
The glutes, middle back, and core musculature could all use some
extra attention in the workout. In the warm-up, we can utilize
remedial exercises to help train these muscles to work a little better.
So may seem like rehab or may shun off exercises like band walks,
glute bridges, and band pull-apart since compound movements will do
the job.
On a personal note, I have experienced tremendous benefits from
muscle activation exercises. I have had two hip
surgeries and 2 herniated discs. I can tell a dramatic difference when
I include glute exercises and Stu McGill’s (leading spine researcher)
core-type protocols into my routine. If I skip them, my body will let me
know. I take 15 minutes to prepare for my workout. This has allowed me to continue to train hard while having no pain or injuries.
In essence, all of this essentially helps us to increase performance and
reduce the risk of injury. To do this we need to cover a lot of bases. A
warm-up will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. This may seem like a
long time but the warm-up is the workout. It should start with a fairly
low intensity and end with something that excites the body’s systems
and gets you going.
Click HERE to watch a video of a proper warm-up