How to Structure a Warm Up
Do you need to warm up before a workout? No, but will it have consequences? 100% yes without a doubt it will, even if you are JUST going for a run.
Including the right warm up into your routine provides the following benefits for your workout:
It reduces injury risk during training
It reduces joint stress
It increase blood flow & reduce stiffness
It improves effort & focus
It improves the overall performance of the workout
I mean, that’s a lot of benefits to miss out on. This is true regardless of if you are about to lift weights or if you are getting a form of cardio in. When you warm-up you are essentially waking up the body’s physiological response. Moving the body at a low intensity we bring the heart rate up and gradually begin to prime the cardiovascular system. By adding in dynamic body weight movements we begin to prime the musculoskeletal system that is about to produce and absorb force. We want to prime the muscles and movement patterns, and systems that we are about to put under stress (increased load or intensity).
Now let’s talk about what exercises will go into your warm-up routine since we already established that we DO need more than just a fast walk.
Ask yourself these questions.
What will be the focus of your workout today?
Do you know where your movement is restricted/tight? Is there anything motion that is a little difficult for you like reaching your arms overhead or twisting?
Take the answers to those questions and pick bodyweight movements in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane. Find some examples of these below.
Over 30% of injuries seen by sports medicine clinics are skeletal muscle injuries — which can be easily prevented by warming up. The next time you feel like you can’t spare 5-10 minutes to warm up before running, think carefully about the effect it will have on your body. Those 10 minutes definitely seem worth it when you consider that you’re helping prevent injuries to your body and improve your performance.
Any questions? Drop them down in the comments below. Also, if you are interested in a 10 minute follow along video warm-up routine for your runs click here.
