Lauren Murphy

Why Warm Up?

I have a confession to make. I haven’t been warming up. All summer long, the weather was hot, and I was always active. I didn’t really feel the need to warmup. I just jumped right into the workout.

A warmup is crucial in that it loosens up your muscles, gets you mentally prepared, and helps prevent injury. I could have potentially hurt myself if my body wasn’t already warm and prepared for the beating I put it through. I’m young and I’m lucky.

I’ve been wondering about the decreased time and strength I’ve been experiencing lately in my workouts. The answer became apparent to me while at the end of my workout, a Sikh who is our landlord’s construction/maintenance guy comes over to me and starts talking to me about how he used to work out when he was younger. At one point he says to me, “Now that it is getting cold, you should exercise in the garage. Close the door and exercise so that you are warm. You should never exercise when it is cold. Your body needs to be warm.”

The Sikh was right. I took both parts of his advice: 1) get my body warm, and 2) workout in the garage. You’ll be seeing some of my new videos with me training in the garage.

But the question is:

How do we warmup without it being boring?

Good question. I have three options for you:

1 – Make your Warmup Half of your Workout

The title says it all. Simply cut your current workout in half by sets, reps, weight, and all else and go do it. Chances are you’ll be able to work on your form without worrying about how much weight you’re using, or if you’re beating your PR. Take it slow, and take it steady.

For example, lets say that the workout was:

Pyramid sets of:

Burpees 3-6-9-12-15-15-12-9-6-3
Pullups 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1

You’re doing 90 Burpees, and 30 Pullups in this workouts. A warmup can look something like this:

Burpees 5×9
Pull Ups 5×5

Chances are, 45 Burpees and 15 Pullups will not phase you much. However, this may feel like a workout for a complete beginner or intermediate level trainee. The lesson to be learned here is that one man’s warmup may be another man’s workout.

2 – Stretch, but Keep Moving

I’ve heard that static stretching reduces strength. But I’m not really sure about that. I do know that I like to do what is known as dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is gradually increasing one’s range of motion with gently, smooth movements. What I do is set the timer for 5 minutes, and perform a variety of dynamic stretching drills. These drills focus primarily on loosening up my hamstrings, lower back, and joints. 

3 – Just do Cardio Man

Some people will run on a treadmill for 15 minutes before hitting the weights. Performing some steady state cardio before an intense weight training routine is actually a really great warm up. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do: warms up your body and gets the blood flowing.

If you choose cardio as your primary method of warming up, then I suggest you choose something you enjoy and stick to it. Running, jump roping, shadowboxing, and sledgehammer swings are all valid cardio warm ups.

Switch Things Up and Do them all at Once

I strongly suggest trying out all three methods before you make a decision to stick to just one. You may even wish to combine all three methods into one. Here is a good way to do just that. Lets say you are about to perform the above mentioned workout. Here is a sample warm up:

1 minute Dynamic Stretching
9 Burpees
5 Pullups
1 minute Jump Roping
9 Burpees
5 Pullups
1 minute Dynamic Stretching
9 Burpees
5 Pullups
1 minute Jump Roping
9 Burpees
5 Pullups
1 minute Dynamic Stretching

This warmup may last you somewhere between 5- 10 minutes, with the workout lasting you somewhere between 12 to 18 minutes. Your total time exercising would still be under 30 minutes!

About the Author 

Parth Shah is a Strength and Fitness Consultant specializing in developing practical, sustainable fitness solutions for his clients. His thoughts, ideas, and philosophy can be found on his website ShahTraining.com. Or click here for his RSS feed.

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