Warm-up 101

This blog was prompted by a viewer who asked me about the proper way to prep the body for a workout. So, I decided to answer it so that everyone can view my answer.

Far to many people walk in the gym, throw down their keys, and hop on a treadmill. They then precede to lift a few weights, maybe do some crunches, and then walk out. Well, there is a lot of issues with that, but for now lets just tackle the warm-up.

The warm-up is just that, a warm-up. You are trying to warm up the body, heat the body, and prep it for exercise. So, why in the world would you just jump on a machine right away and start lifting. Think of it this way. Spaghetti, when dry you can crack it in half without trying. Warm the spaghetti up, and you can move it any way you want. That is how you have to think of your
body.

There are two MAJOR parts of a warm-up

1. Foam Rolling
2. Dynamic Movement Prep

Foam rolling is the start to every single one of my workouts. I find it enjoyable. Similar to a self massage, I loosen up the muscles while going through my workout in my head. I always hit major muscles with the foam roller including, upper traps, hamstrings, calves, quads, abductors, glutes, IT band, and hip flexors. I have mentioned Eric Cressey before, but if you don't know him I suggest you do. He has some great videos on YouTube and his website on all these foam rolling exercises.

Dynamic Movement Prep is where you really warm the body up. You should have a good sweat by the end of it. You want to do a full body warm-up, but really hit the muscles your going to be emphasising hard. For example, if your going to be doing heavy squatting your going to want to make sure your hips, glutes, external rotators, lower back, quads, and hamstrings, are just like that piece of cooked spaghetti.

Here is a sample dynamic warm-up:

Knee to chest pull
Knee to chest pull with drop to lunge
Walking Leg Raise
Spider man Crawl
Backwards Hurdle
Side leg Raises
Ankle Rocks
Scapular Retractions
External Rotations/No Moneys

Again, thanks to the work of Eric, he has videos on most of these.

So, next time you get a workout in, attempt some of this. It is all body weight stuff, so you really can't hurt yourself. Try new things, and keep it mixed up. Remember it is called a warm-up for a reason, you should be sweating before you even start your workout.

If you have questions on any of the exercises I mentioned, would like a full foam rolling and dynamic movement prep program, or have any comments, please don't hesitate to e-mail me.

All the best,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Spurling Strength & Speed
dspurling@une.edu