Happy Monday everybody! This week I wanted to focus on another very important fit tip- the warm up. I know you see it written in every workout, are you actually warming up? Do you know what it means to warm up and why it’s important? Today I’m going to explain some of the reasons WHY you need to warm up along with a quick 5 minute warm up you can start incorporating into your every day at-home or at-the-gym workouts.
Have you ever pulled a muscle while exercising? Rolled an ankle? It’s most likely because you didn’t warm up properly! Warming up does exactly what it says- it warms up the muscles, get’s them flexible and prepares the muscle fibers for what’s to come. The general rule of thumb is that the harder the workout, the more extensive the warm up should be. So if you’re about to do an intense HIIT or Plyometric workout, that means you’re going to want to spend a bit more time on the warm up and gradually increase the intensity.
What should a warm up include?
Typically a warm up should be 5-10 minutes long and should include a bit of cardio get the heart rate up (gradually) and then some light dynamic stretching that are specific to the muscles you’ll be using in your workout. Notice I said
DYNAMIC – NOT STATIC.
That means your stretches should be held for 1-2 seconds only and are in a state of motion.Static stretching, on the other hand, is when you hold the stretch longer than 10 seconds- you only do this AFTER your workout. By doing static stretches as a warm up, you actually increase risk of injury because now your muscles are TOO elastic and increase risk of rolling an ankle, falling or pulling a muscle.
Warm Up Phase 1-
As I said, always start with a bit of cardio do get the heart rate up. This can be a 5-10 minute run or bike, or if that’s not possible, jump rope, jumping jacks, high knees, etc. Obviously don’t be doing a full out sprint. It should be a gradual warm up to gradually bring your heart rate up. For example, start with a walk, increase to a power walk, a jog, then a light run.
When I can’t go for a run or workout outside without my bike, here’s a quick example of what I like to do for my cardio warm up!
- 20-30 seconds each, 2-3 times through
- High knees
- Butt Kicks
- Jumping Jacks
- Run in place
- *For more intense workouts like HIIT or Plyo, I add in 2-3 20 second rounds of burpees as well.
Warm Up Phase 2-
Once my body *literally* feels warm and my heart rate has gone up, then I start my dynamic stretches that are specific to my upcoming workout. If I am doing a leg-specific workout, I focus on legs and core. For upper body I focus on arms and back, and for full body I focus on all of the above. I put together 2 quick videos below with some examples of dynamic stretches that you can incorporate into your warm up to enhance your exercise performance and reduce your risk of injury! The first video shows my dynamic stretches for lower body and the second is for upper. If you’re doing a full body, try to incorporate both.