Scott Ableman

Warming up is essential before doing any kind of activity, we often forget to warmup and pay the price the next day feeling overly stiff or in the worse case causing an injury that could have been prevented……

To me it is important to find a warmup that works for you, and you will perform consistently. The problem with most conventional warmups is that they are slow, drawn out and generally boring. The key is making them faster paced while getting a good flow of blood to all your major muscles and tendons while getting your nervous system ready, making your body supple and ready for the workout at hand. As well as this Warming Up holds many other benefits:

• You will be mentally prepared for the task at hand
• Body temperature is increased improving performance
• As blood vessels dilate the pressure on the heart during the workout is reduced
• Reduced likely hood of injury

I myself like to do a quick warmup before doing any workout, whether strenous or light my warmup stays the same. It is a routine devised over the years and is something I have found to work very effectivly to get blood flowing and prepare me for the workout. Here are the main Exercises:

Jumping Jacks

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmYwZH_BNd0

Body Weight Squats

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdwETDQXCw

Pushups

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A_zvnm8C04

Dynamic Stretching

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkCZym9CT54

As you can probably see I omit any of the conventional slow and boring stretching or running. What is great about a warmup using more dynamic exercises is that it feels like you are straight into the workout, rather than wasting time warming up, plus it makes for a far more efficient warmup as you get the heart pumping effectively. Plus this warmup can be done anywhere.

The Warmup

1. 30 reps of Jumping Jacks
2. 20 Reps of Bodyweight Squats
3. 10 Reps of Pushups (use the variation that allows you to complete them fairly easily)
4. REPEAT Circuit above 1 more time
5. 2-3 Minutes of Dynamic Stretching (I use a selection from the video above)

As you can see this warmup will definitely get the blood pumping and will do a great job of warming up all the major muscle groups. If you have not heard of Dynamic Stretching then you definitely need to try it out. It is a method that prepares your muscles for sport in the way they are really going to be used during exercises. This makes them not only more time efficient but makes injury less likely, plus they are fun!

To learn more about Dynamic Stretching checkout these guys Anatomy in Motion and if you are the UK and interested I highly recommend attending one of their workshops.

You can use this warmup whether you are about to play sports, go to the gym or go for a run. It doesn’t matter, it is equally effective regardless and should take around 5 minutes max.

So give it a try – Next time you workout give yourself a thorough but simple warmup. Also feel free to adjust the warmup to work for you. The best warmup is the warmup you will do consistently.

Also If you guys missed them here I some posts I have written at various sites in the past weeks:

Simple Eating – B-Vitamins

Going Back to Basics

Chris is the author of A Simple Guide to Eating Well and writes about staying fit while living life at Zen to Fitness. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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