Let’s take a moment of silence together. Let’s clasp hands and honour the millions lost every day in the disservice of lifters all over the world.
I’m of course talking about all the minutes wasted on treadmills, trying to warm up before lifting.
Sure, it can be nice watching the latest episode of Big Bang Theory while leisurely strolling along next to the cardio bunnies. Maybe it’ll even bump your heart rate up a few beats.
I’m guessing, however, that you probably don’t have hours to spend in the gym, so why not do something productive instead?
Why not prime your body for the heavy work to come?
Why warm up?
The benefits, however small, of warming up that have actually been proven are:
- Increased body temperature. This in turn improves your work capacity with short term exercises (less than 60 seconds long).
- Improved neurological function. Every rep improves your motor function and the more recently, the better.
- Psychological preparedness. Getting in the zone will both help prevent injuries and improve performance.
Only the first one is accomplished prancing about on the treadmill. For the other two you’ll have to warm up doing something similar to how you’ll train.
Functional warmup.
Yeah, I used the F word. But don’t worry, I’m not here to promote spandex pants or have you dress up as a kinesio tape mummy.
Instead, I’m suggesting you think about what function you want your warmup to have. It should prime your body for the movement that will be your actual training.
I’m a big fan of body weight exercises for this, as there’s almost zero chance you’ll hurt yourself, you can work on getting full Range Of Motion, difficulty is easily adjusted by adding or removing reps, and there’s no setup – you just get to it.
Get your gloves on.
If your chosen body weight movement is too easy for you, or you’re feeling like spicing things up a tad, I have just the thing for you.
First you have to tweak the exercise to make sure the bottom position is tough. Find a way where you don’t rest. Push-ups, for example, would stop before hitting the floor and you’d hold it there.
Next, play some Moby! Specifically the song Bring Sally Up.
Now comes the fun. Every time you hear “Bring Sally Up”, you move to the top position. At “Bring Sally Down”, you go to the bottom position.
This will be a total of thirty repetitions. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? 😉
Have fun and stay warm!
About the Author
Tobias Sjösten is the founder of Athlegan.com, a blog about the rise of Veganism. Tobias shares his stories as he learns to create the strongest, fastest and healthiest version of himself possible.
