Whether you’re an athlete, bodybuilder, or enjoy staying active, warming up is an essential practice that should be incorporated into every workout routine.
Diving straight into an intense exercise routine without preparing your body beforehand is never a good idea.
Steadily easing your way into a workout is much less strenuous than jumping into an intense workout while you’re tired or stiff.
At its worst, failing to warm up before a workout can be downright dangerous.
Serious injuries can come as a result of failing to warm up.
As Sports Medicine Information puts it, “keeping the muscles warm will prevent acute injuries such as hamstring strains and will stave off overuse injuries by allowing the body to prepare steadily and safely.”
Forming a Plan of Action
Every warm-up routine will be different. It all depends on your fitness level and what kind of workout you’re preparing to perform.
Below are some well-rounded ways to get your blood pumping before breaking a sweat.
Low-Weight Reps
Bodybuilders often prepare to lift heavy barbells by first performing a couple of sets of the same workout but with a much lighter weight.
Low-weight sets are a great way to increase blood flow to the areas of your body that you plan to work out.
This practice can be used to prepare for various workouts, like sprinting and cycling.
Before your workout, simply take a couple of light-medium weights and warm up the muscle groups you plan to exercise.
You can use them for squatting, bicep curl, shoulder press – whatever movements best suit the workout ahead of you.
What’s important is that you’re focused on specific adaptation and elevating your heart rate. Specific adaptation refers to matching the movement to your goals. For example, if you’re planning on doing exercises that utilize shoulder movements, focus on warmups that engage your shoulders.
Yoga
Yoga is not only an excellent form of exercise in itself, but it’s also a very effective and relaxing way to warm up.
Runner’s lunges, warrior pose, and downward-facing dog are all yoga positions that double up as perfect pre-workout poses to get your blood pumping.
After an intense workout, yoga can also work as a great cool-down practice, relaxing your mind and easing you gently back into your day.
Incline Walking
Walking is one of the planet’s most underrated forms of exercise. It’s peaceful, enjoyable, and is a great way to prepare your body for a workout.
Incline walking before a session of exercise will allow your heart rate to increase steadily, getting your blood flowing and putting you in the right frame of mind for working out.
Bodyweight Exercises
Bodyweight exercises are, you guessed it, exercises that make use of your body’s own weight rather than relying on heavy dumbbells.
The great thing about body-weight exercises is that they can be performed literally anywhere; you don’t need a gym membership to pump out ten push-ups and a few lunges.
Not only that, but your body isn’t being pushed to any extreme limits like it may otherwise be during a weightlifting session. For that reason, they make for great warm-up exercises.
Before a workout, executing a well-rounded selection of body-weight exercises will allow you to increase blood flow to several muscle groups.
Here’s an example of a body-weight exercise routine you could perform before working out:
- 10 press-ups
- 20 jumping jacks
- 15 squats
- 10 lunges on each side
- 6 pull-ups
