16 Aug Why Proper Warm Up Matters
Most of us lead hectic schedules day to day. We often rush into workouts in the interest of saving time. Triathletes are often quick to push off warm ups, especially on their runs. They can ease in and warm up on a bike and most swim workouts have a good warm up built in. But the run is often just lace ’em up and go. But spending a few minutes prepping for your run can result in better running form and less chance of injury. Other athletes across other sports typically utilize a well-planned warm up and drill set before the real work of practice or the workout begins. But what about proper warm up in the gym before strength training? During strength and conditioning, be it bodybuilding, power lifting or CrossFit, all these athletes would do well to implement these warm up strategies for better, safer workouts. In fact, we can learn a lot from the power lifting community. They have long practiced long warm up sets before a relatively shorter “hard work period” and a proper cool down. Regardless of your sport, all athletes benefit from a proper warm up. Here is a quick rundown of how your workouts can and most likely should be set up. 1. Heating up the tissues: Takes about 2-5 minutes. You can row on the Erg, run, jump rope, or bike on the always punishing Airdyne. The point is to increase core body temperature, helping to make tissues temporarily more elastic. More importantly it begins to ramp up nervous system. 2. Prep your problem areas: If you have tight spots and/or you working through limitation or injury, spend a few minutes on a lacrosse ball or foam roller to ease out these tissues. Band assisted joint capsule stretches are great here as well. Keep in mind most soft tissue regeneration is best saved for after the workout. 3. Cold In/ Cold Out: The body needs a proper warm up to get to temperature and prepare the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system to move efficiently and with speed, strength and power. Static stretching is antiquated and simply does NOT reduce muscle stiffness nor reduce injury rates. Dynamic movements DO reduce muscle stiffness, and prepare the body to move better. And, dynamic movement prep has a great capacity to reduce the likelihood of injury. 4. Do enough warm up sets: Dynamic warm ups like Movement prep and even skill work drills are a great way to ramp up nervous system. Use a PVC bar to work through a progression of skilled movements, each building on the previous movement, culminating into a technical lift like a snatch, clean and jerk or deadlift. There is no better way to warm up for a technical lift than to break that movement down and drill those movements. 5. Keep your main workout shorter: Unless you are bodybuilding and need a higher volume of “sets & reps”, you should strive to keep the main body of your workout about 60% at most of your total workout. That leaves the other 40% to be spent on proper warm up and cool down. 6. Take the time to Cool Down: Most workouts will leave you tight. If you leave the gym in that state you will be tight. You should start your recovery immediately following your workout, whether in the gym or just after that long run or bike. In just 10 minutes you can do some simple mobility drills that will begin the regeneration process. So grab a lacrosse ball, foam roller, and monster band and work through your body. You can spend extra time on problem areas. Proper cool down down-regulates your physiology from being in an excited state with your engine revved up from the workout and gets your engine back to neutral. The take home points: Warm up properly. It only takes 2-5 minutes to get your core temperature up. Then you are ready for a bit longer movement prep, 20 minutes or so working on drills and skills. Keep your main set relatively short. Get a little better each day, with each workout. Live to fight another day. Spend 10-20 minutes on proper cool down. Get the engine back to neutral. Help the body to stabilize the changes that you stimulated during the workout and begin the recovery process correctly. Remember, proper nutrition and sleep and recovery are critical elements to being prepared for your next workout and prevent overtraining. Visit www.PotomacPhysicalMedicine.com