The Warm Up You Should Be Doing, But Aren’t

Ah, the dreaded warm up. We all hate doing it and most of us don’t. Why? It’s fucking boring and cuts into our benching time, am I right?

I’ve seen it a thousand times and will continue to see it a thousand more; a guy walking into the gym and heading straight to the weight room. No warm up, no foam rolling, no stretching.

I’m a huge believer in properly warming up before exercise because I’ve seen what happens when you don’t. I’ve had quite a few minor injuries (and a few major ones) and many of them came from pushing too hard without being ready for it.

Meaning, my body wasn’t ready for the beatdown I gave it because because I wasn’t warmed up enough.

Why You NEED To Warm Up

A warm up doesn’t constitute walking from the gym door to the bench press nor is it the 5 minutes you spend on the treadmill. A warm up takes time and prepares your entire body ready for exercise.

I’m talking about a fully functional dynamic warm up here; the kind that gets every part of your body moving and warm.

You’ve heard the analogy of starting a car in winter and just driving off before it’s warmed up. The idea is the same with your body. You may be able to get away with not warming up when you’re young, but as you age, it will be harder and harder to stay injury free, flexible, and at your physical best.

Here are some of the benefits of warming up properly:

• Improves your range of motion
• Reduces chance of injury
• Gets your body temperature up  and warms up muscles
• Improves performance
• Mentally prepares you for training

You should have a light sweat going when you’re done warming up. You should also make sure you maintain proper posture throughout the entire warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up That You Need To Be Doing EVERY Training Session

Because this is so important, I created a video with a full dynamic warm up that you need to do every time you exercise. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of exercises that you can do in place of the ones I demonstrate and you should probably change your warm up every few months.

Here are the exercises I demonstrate in order:

• Speed jumping jacks X25
• Hip rolls X10
• Arm criss-crosses X20
• Band dislocations X10
• Walking lunge with twist X10
• Walking high knee pulls X15
• Butt kickers X40
• Inchworm X5
• Bird dogs X20
• Lying leg raises X20
• Downward dog to cobra X10
• Strider to thoracic spine rotation X10

Here’s the full video: