How to warm up effectively!
Are you someone who doesn’t see the benefit of taking time away from your workout to squeeze in a warmup at the beginning? Do you think that 5 minutes is too short to make a difference in your progress at the gym? Today I’m going to show you why taking the time to prep your body can be more beneficial than you think!
Why is Warming Up Important?
Warming up will prepare you both physically and psychologically for your workout! Especially when you have a job that requires you to sit for the majority of the day, going from your desk straight into an intense workout will shock your body. It is important to give it a bit of a heads up and prime your body for what you want it to do.
Warming up is also strongly linked to reducing the risk of injuries and is a fantastic way to get in your rehab exercises and improve your weak areas. Since warming up causes increased reaction time, range of motion, and force and power production, your muscles, joints and ligaments are stronger and working better together to increase your resilience to injury.
The many benefits of warming up can be divided into temperature and non-temperature related effects:
Temperature Related Effects
- Increase in muscle temperature
- Increase in core temperature
- Enhanced neural function (i.e. the communication between your nerves and muscles)
- Disruption of connective tissue bonds (one of the things that can make you feel tight and sore!)
Non-Temperature Related Effects
- Increased blood flow to muscles
- Elevation of baseline oxygen consumption (i.e. increased metabolic rate)
- Increased post-activation potentiation (i.e. a temporary increase in performance as a result of a conditioning exercise)
Not convinced yet? There are also many other reasons why you experience an increase in performance during your workout session after warming up. In addition to the above reasons this can include increased muscle contraction and relaxation, coordination of opposing muscle groups, force development, reaction time, and increased muscle strength and power.
The Steps to a Perfect Warmup
A fantastic way to remember the components of a warmup is through the acronym RAMP – Raise, Activate, Mobilize and Potentiate.
1. RAISE
The first component of a warmup is to complete 3-5 minutes of general aerobic activity. This will help to physically warm up the body, and will increase heart rate, blood flow, and respiration. Feel free to get creative here – this can be anything from a jog on the treadmill or stationary biking to skipping. If you’re prepping for a specific running sport it is also a good idea to make sure you’re moving in multiple planes of direction (forward, backward, sideways).
2. ACTIVATE/MOBILIZE
During this step you’re going to be combining dynamic stretching and activation exercises. It is EXTREMELY important that you do NOT complete any static stretches here (i.e. holding a stretch in the same position for a sustained period of time). Instead, stretches should be combined with movement (think about hip circles). For activation, you’re going to think about turning on the muscles that are hard for you to get working – common areas include the core and glutes. This is also a great time to do your physio exercises. ;)
3. POTENTIATE
This step is the most variable and really depends on what you’re doing for your workout! Essentially you want to improve the connection between your brain and your muscles – reminding it how to do an exercise with perfect form or reacting quickly to a ball heading your way. For example, if you’re going to be doing a heavy leg day this is a great time to get in a light warm-up set of barbell squats with perfect form, so your brain remembers what that feels like as you add on weight! If you’re warming up for a sport like soccer, this is when you would do sprinting and cone/agility drills to prep your speed and reaction time.