What Should Really Do During Your Warm-Up?

What should really do during your warm-up?

We all know we need to warm up before we exercise. But what should you really do?

People often switch between 10 minutes on the bike, walking, or jogging. Another classic one people like to do is arm circles and swings before their upper body workouts or leg swings before lower body days.

Its ok to do some of those if it feels good. The walking/jogging/running is also good for getting you going, getting in the mindset and even increasing blood flow through your body to get your body ready for exercise.

Now there are a few other things that you should consider as well.

You should think about what you are working on during your training session, what muscles will you be using, and what movement patterns you’ll perform.

Once you know what you are doing during your training session, your goal is to get the muscles and joints involved ready to go.

Let’s say I am going to squat today, I know I will be involving my hips, my glutes, my core, and other muscles in my legs. My warm-up would include the following:

· 5-10 minute walk to increase the blood flow through my body, in particular my legs

· Some glute firing exercises such as banded side steps, banded bridge or clams.

· Deadbugs or Birddogs to activate my core.

· Hip mobility drills like hip openers, and dynamic stretches.

· Bodyweight or lightweight repetitions of a squat and lunge.

If you break that down you can see that you include drills to increase blood flow, primer the muscles and joints that are going to be used, as well as practice the movement pattern with light weight to finish it up.

All this could take you between 10-15 minutes and would not only help you prevent injury but it will also help you perform better during your training session.