The Perfect Warm-Up

Greetings Fitters.
 Welcome back. I hope you've fared well this Wednesday. For this post, I wanted to get into the "Perfect Warm-Up".

 I'm going to go ahead and burst the proverbial bubble early. There is no such thing as a perfect warm-up. But there are aspects that should be present in every warm up to ensure that your body is ready for the rigors you are about to put it through.

1) Cardiovascular - Do this to stretch the lungs, warm up the muscles, increase core temperatures slightly, and pump the blood more quickly. It does not need to last more than 5 minutes, and shouldn't be vigorous. Rowing, biking, jogging, or uphill walking are great examples.

2) Dynamic Movements - Use movements that move your joints through an increased range of motion that they usually do not see throughout the day. This gets your muscles ready to stretch farther, and harder, than the usual day-to-day movements. This may include arm circles, long lunges, high kicks or high knees, wide side-lunges, etc.

3) Shoulders and Hips - These are the "junction boxes" between the torso/core and arms and legs. Because of the vast amounts of muscles that are connected here, the range of motion that these joints have, and the fact that an extremely large percentage of exercises utilize these joints, it is important to make sure they are ready to move.

4) Movement specific - If you are going to do deadlifts, make sure you stretch the hamstrings and lower back. Lunges? Do deep, long lunges to warm up. Bench press? Do some pushups, and warm up the shoulders. Burpees?......well, better get it all warmed up. And good luck.

5) Sweat - "Are you sweating?" "No." "You're not warmed up." "But I feel loose and ready to go!" "Are you sweating?" "Well...no." "You're not warmed up." You don't have to be drenched, but you have to be warm.

Warm ups should be a minimum of 7-10 minutes. There's no sense not being ready to move. Keep yourself safe, and always

Stay Fit.