“C’mon bro, your warm up is my workout!”… Wait, what?
‘I really dislike warming up. Given a choice, I’d love to just jump straight into that workout or attempt a max effort lift without going through the “hassle” of warming up. That’s why I’m at the gym anyway, right? To do amazing stuff with my body and use and improve my fitness! I didn’t come here to warm up!’
It’s pretty safe to say that at some point in time we’ve this going on in our internal dialogue at least once.
But the hard truth is that a suboptimal warm up regime will result in suboptimal training and at best, suboptimal results (if any at all). Elite athletes know just how crucial it is to invest time and effort in ensuring that their bodies are properly warm and primed for elite performance.
We place a lot of emphasis on body maintenance, which includes activities such as foam rolling, stretching and the like. These maintenance activities are extremely useful in keeping you injury free and training for longer.
Warming up before your training is also a great way to prevent injuries and ensure effective training. The warm up is the ideal time to tune in to your body and listen to how it feels, before you put it to the test during the lift or the workout later on.
‘Okay, so warming up is important. I get that. But what goes into a warm up?’
Now we’re asking the right questions. There are countless warm ups on the interwebs and the exact components of the warm up protocol may vary across different training facilities. At Innervate, we utilize a method of warming up that we’ve found to be particularly useful for our community. We prefer a dynamic warm up which includes some weightlifting and gymnastic components and we also use this opportunity to sneak in some “prehab” exercises to prevent injury and keep our bodies healthy and happy. It’s an awesome way to set you up for success in your training and we love it because it is safe, efficient and effective.
At the end of the day, there’s just no running away from warming up. Embrace it!
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