If you are like me, you find warming up to be a pointless and useless practice. Who needs to warm up before working out? Working out IS a warm up. Warming up is nothing but a time waster for those who can’t just jump right into their workout, right?
None of this is true. Warming up and, consequently, cooling down could be the most important part of your workouts. Raising the body temperature so that your muscles are warm and the blood is circulating, dynamic/ballistic stretching to reduce muscle soreness, static stretching to help prevent injury, and specific preparation drills are all key components to a healthy workout session.
For years this concept of warming up alluded me. Although I did warm ups for both track and football, I only did it because I was required to. The purpose of warming up never quite stuck in my brain housing group. I’ve been told numerous times that stretching prevents injury. I’ve never been injured for a lack of warming up. “You’ll make bigger weight gains,” they said. I bench press 315 pounds and squat close to 450. I’m big enough. What could warming up possibly do for me? Then as my training progressed into all around and holistic fitness, instead of just hitting the weight room, I noticed my musculature change. With the bigger muscles came more restricted movement and eventually limited range of motion. Things that I could do in my sleep soon became the most difficult things I’ve ever attempted in my fitness career. If only I had warmed up and stretched…
Now, for me this is the most important reason to warm up. Regaining my flexibility, range of motion, and elongating my muscles. The true importance behind warming up is exactly what everyone tells you. You do 5-10 of cardio to elevate your temperature and get the blood flowing in order to maximize your stretching capacity. You do both ballistic and static stretches in order to prevent injury, elongate you muscles, maintain flexibility (you never realize how important flexibility is until you don’t have it anymore), and to insure an efficient workout session. You do you specific preparation drills in order to fully warm up your incorporated muscles.
Take it from a guy who, for years, would walk into a weight room and just start lifting cold. Don’t. You may be able to bench press more than a minivan, but you won’t be able to lift your arms up to put on your shirt (never had that problem, but who knows how bad it could have gotten). So, get out there, warm up, stretch, and have a safe and productive workout!
[Photo : FitnessNYC]
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