No-nonense Warmups.
A proper warmup is essential for preventing injuries, improving performance, and getting your body ready for the demands of your workout. However, people tend to overcomplicate warmups with endless ‘prehab’ and activation drills that just waste your precious time in the gym. I too have fallen into this trap in the past. It’s not necessary, unless you’re working on a specific injury-related weakeness.
Here's a simple, effective warmup routine that includes a pulse raiser, dynamic stretches, and warm-up sets with lighter weights so you can get under the bar quicker and save yourself precious time.
1. Pulse Raiser
Get Warm: Bike, jog, incline walk, row, ski or skip. It does not matter. A warmup must get you warm, so cover that first. Slowly climb yourself up the intensity scale from 0 to 6, to the point where you are almost breaking a sweat.
Duration: 2-3 minutes
2. Dynamic Stretches
Dynamic stretches are a great way to get your joints moving at a low intensity. Here are some of my favourites
Leg swings: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and swing your legs forward and back.
Walking lunges with Knee Drive: Pull your knee to your chest. Release, and step forward with one leg and lower your body until both knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Alternate legs.
Open and Close the Gate: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and lift your leg up, moving it in and away from the midline.
World’s Greatest Stretch: Jog in place and kick your heels towards your glutes.
Quadruped T-Spine Rotations: On your hands and knees, bring one hand to the back of your head. Crunch your elbow down to the floor and open it up to the ceiling.
Skin the Cat: Hanging from a bar, lift your legs up to your face and all the way down behind you.
Focus on areas that feel tight or restricted.
3. Warm-Up Sets
Choose your first exercise: Select the first exercise of your workout.
Reduce the weight: Use a lighter weight than you plan to use for your working sets.
Perform multiple sets: Complete 1-2 sets of 10-15 repetitions to warm up your muscles and joints.
Example: If your first exercise is bench press, start with a lighter weight and perform 1-2 sets of 10-15 repetitions before increasing the weight for your working sets.
Remember: A good warmup should leave you feeling warm, prepped and ready in a reasonable amount of time. Don’t overcomplicate it, your time is precious.
