Your Warm-Up Doesn’t Have to Suck
“You’re not a wild animal being chased without warning in the jungle—you’re an athlete getting ready to train in the gym.” – G. Everett
If that quote doesn’t make sense to you, then you probably don’t need to keep reading this post. I’m kidding, you 100% are the person that should keep reading! Throughout my career, I’ve watched the de-evolution of the warm-up. It turned into a competition to see who can make it suck more. As far as I know the warm-up was meant to do exactly that, warm you up, and prepare you to train in the gym, play a sport, or go for a run. Somewhere along the line, it lost its way. The warm-up isn’t a workout, it’s just a piece of the overall workout.
Sadly, I don’t know what caused this to happen. Maybe it was the recent fitness boom with its constantly varied mindset. Maybe it’s boredom. Maybe it’s a lack of knowledge when it comes to the coaches. I don’t know the real answer, but if I find it, you guys will be the first to know. I’ve traveled around the country, dropped-in to many gyms, and actually have found myself off in the corner warming up before the so-called “Warm-Up” begins. If you ever find yourself standing in a gym looking at the warm-up thinking it might be a good idea to warm-up before it starts, go warm-up before it starts.
Maybe I’m old school, maybe it’s because I’m in my 30’s, but I have a warm-up that I’ve used for my athletes and myself for 5+ years which I continue to evolve to make it better each year. I’ve added things, taken things out, but the meat of the warm-up sandwich has remained as constant as a PB&J. In all honesty, it’s a constantly evolving process here. If something doesn’t work it won’t be included. If an exercise doesn’t make sense, see ya later. It’s not set in stone, but fundamentally it will always accomplish the same thing, progressively warm the body up and prepare it for the tasks that lay ahead.
“If you ever find yourself standing in a gym looking at the warm-up thinking it might be a good idea to warm-up before it starts, go warm-up before it starts.”
When we warm-up to train in the gym, we follow a 4-STEP PROCESS that’s primary focus is on injury prevention. I was recently asked what my #1 goal is when training our athletes. Since I embarked in the profession of human performance it has always been and will always continue be to, “Do No Harm”. Our number one priority in here is to make sure no one gets hurt, that’s it. Period. There will always be cases where injury occurs. It’s bound to happen eventually, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to mitigate it.
The 4 Step-Process:
Step 1 GET BODY WARM:
This shouldn’t be running a max effort ¼ mile. This should be low intensity, an easy jog, jumping rope, maybe even slide on a rower and get an easy 500m in. This is simple and to the point, don’t make it rocket science. Just keep the intensity low, and don’t spend 30 minutes on a jog. 3-5 minutes is plenty. The pace should be slow enough so you can chat about the recent episode of Game of Thrones.
Step 2 PREP the SOFT TISSUE:
Grab a foam roller, lacrosse ball, tennis ball, or a pvc pipe. The goal here is to increase blood flow, prepare the muscles and fascia to move better, and to work out any knots or kinks that you have. If you have a problem area it’s ok to focus your efforts there for an extended period of time. Limit your time on a foam roller to 3-5 mins max pre workout. If you’re about to fall asleep, you’re doing something wrong, or you’re now in your 10th minute of foam rolling. The pre-workout foam rolling session should be more sports-massage like, not the 60 min long massage where you fall asleep on the table. The goal is to stimulate the nervous system, not put it to sleep.
Step 3 DYNAMICALLY WARM-UP:
Here at GPS Human Performance, we have a variety of movements that we do on a consistent basis. What we are trying to accomplish is to work through all of the ranges of motion that we will go through during our training session. The great thing is, a lot of movements we do hit multiple areas of the body so we don’t have to specifically single out a lot of ranges. We set a tempo, get into a flow state and, not only are we preparing physically, but we are mentally preparing as well. Now if we are going to be doing a lot of work with the barbell, we will spend some time warming up with the barbell as well. This gives us another opportunity to even get some good practice in as well.
Step 4 PERFORM PREHAB:
These movements are specifically used to target most of the population’s problem areas. In-active glutes, rotator cuff/urounded shoulders, and core control. We use a variety of techniques here, but our main focus is to get our glutes turned on, try to un-round those shoulders by activating the shoulder stabilizers, and protect our spine by getting everything in and around our spine turned on. Here are some links to watch on some ways we turn our GLUTES, SHOULDERS, & CORE on.
The easiest thing to do is to develop a routine for yourself that works. There will always be people who argue that you don’t need to warm-up. When someone is 22, they might be able to get away with it…for a while. As the sand in your hourglass begins to pour more and more into the bottom, you’ll wish you had started putting yourself in positions for success a lot earlier. Trust me.
And when someone tells you this:
“Well a dog just jumps up from a nap and sprints after a car.”
Just respond with this:
“Yes, that is true, but a dog also eats its own poop…I’m just saying.”
P.S. The key to making improvements is consistency. Injuries hamper that consistency and, in turn, our ability to make improvements in Olympic Weightlifting, CrossFit and Strength & Conditioning.