Ready for your workout? Not so fast! Gotta get warmed up before you do anything else! 

Warming up is vital for preparing your body for exercise. It increases your heart rate and blood flow, enabling more oxygen to flow to your muscles. Warming up primes your muscles and connective tissues which will improve your range of motion and prevent injuries during your workout. As your body temperature increases so does your muscular elasticity, meaning your body will move more efficiently and easily once properly warmed and likely reduce soreness after you’re finished exercising. 

Now that we’ve established how important it is to warm up, how exactly do we warm up? We have five elements that will make any warm-up great and get your workout started off on the right foot. 

Time

First and foremost- your warm up should be right before your workout. Don’t complete your warmup then remember you have chores to do and come back to your workout later. You really only need 5 to 10 minutes maximum for an effective warm up, make the most of each moment by knowing exactly what you’re going to do before you get started.

Workout Specific

Your warm up should encompass all major muscle groups, but also be specifically focused on making sure your body will be fully prepared for whatever workout you’re about to do. If it’s leg day you might not worry as much about getting your shoulders warm as you would about making sure your hips are fully mobilized. Your warm up will set the tone for your workout so make sure your plan and your body are singing from the same song sheet. 

Dynamics and Mobility

No matter what workout you have ahead of you, integrate dynamic stretches and mobility into your warm up. Before your muscles are truly warm it’s best to move through positions before sitting statically in one spot (that will come soon). Add movements like leg swings, hip circles, spider lunges, body weight squats, etc to work through all the planes of movement and focus on joint stability before heading into your workout. 

Build the Heat

Let’s get your temperature up! The goal is to raise your body’s temperature- aka warm up- to increase blood flow, and have all systems go before we actually get going. This is where your cardio components come in. First round of any cardio exercise stays on the ground without plyometrics (jumping) and then as you get farther into your warm up you can increase the intensity or add in jumping. An example would be marching in place, then progressing to a jog in place, and then high knees. 

Set your Intention

The final component of a solid warm up is getting your mind focused for what’s ahead. Most people don’t have the luxury of endless amounts of time for their workouts, so setting your intention and focusing your mind can make your workouts more effective. If you’re worrying about moving the laundry along or your big meeting at work, you are less likely to be mindful of engaging your core or going for that extra set at the end. Dial into your mindset, take a moment to be fully present and prepare for a great workout. 

Warm ups are easy to skip but the implications of doing so can be massive. A simple 5 to 10 minutes can make all the difference in injury prevention and goal progress. 

Looking for a little inspiration? We have a free seven day trial program (including a warm up) you can use via Trainerize- our online training platform. Click here for a free trial and don’t forget to tag us in those workout selfies!