If running late to your workout is your idea of a warm up, you may get away with it for a while but the odds are in favor of this habit biting you in the ass one day.
If you’re doing a HIIT style workout, a general dynamic warm-up may be sufficient.
However, we shouldn’t just jump into major strength training lifts (push, pull, hinge, squat and lunge) without priming our bodies for these specific movements.
Warming up properly isn’t sexy, and it won’t make your Instagram feed.
You wouldn’t start your car in 5th gear. Why do this to your body?
A good warm-up will prepare you for a better workout and the social media-worthy moments you’re looking for.
Below are the top 5 reasons to warm-up with weights before going all out with your strength workout.
Reason #1 – Prep the Central Nervous System
Have you ever noticed how a 2 nd or 3 rd set with the exact same weight actually feels lighter?
This happens because your Central Nervous System has adjusted to the work it is being asked to perform.
Reason #2 – Prep our Muscles
When our muscles become more active, our bodies send more blood to these tissues. This is a significant reason why warming up with weights doing the specific movements only using lighter weights is effective.
Reason #3 – Prepare our joints
When our joints begin moving, they become lubricated with synovial fluid. Synovial fluid reduces friction in our joint spaces to make movements more efficient.
As we begin to move more, the more our joints are lubricated which reduces the risk of joint and cartilage injuries.
Reason #4 – Practice the set up and movement
This helps to ensure proper lifting technique.
If something isn’t quite right, it’s better to find out at a lower weight, and avoid an injury.
Always remember that your set up is the first rep.
Reason #5 – Assess the training weights for the day and RPE.
We’re humans, and we will have good days and bad days.
World class sprinters don’t hit their best times every single day.
You’re not that special snowflake that only has excellent days. Keep that in perspective.
Let’s say a 100 lb squat is normally a 7 for you on the Rating of Perceived Exertion scale. However, on any given day that 100lbs can feel heavier or lighter which changes your RPE.
So you ask yourself, “Hey sexy thang, how did that weight feel on a scale of 1 to 10?” (This is how you talk to yourself…right?)
Based on your answer to the question, you may need to adjust your weights for the day.
It’s hard to get a good feel of your RPE if you jump straight into your training sets because of everything mentioned previously.
Let’s say the first set of your workout is a set of 5 deadlifts at 195lbs.
After your general dynamic warm-up, you could begin with a set of 5 reps at 135lbs.
From there, you could progress to a set of 3 to 5 reps at 165lbs to finish your warm-up.
Remember the purpose of the warm-up is to prime the body…NOT to exhaust your strength reserves.
Warm-ups change how you feel about the weights because as mentioned earlier, your body adjusts. This helps you recognize if you’re having an off day and shouldn’t be lifting heavy so you can dial it back and still get in the work.
After your general warm up, take a warm-up set (or 2) with weights before your next strength training workout.
Prime your body to avoid injury, and you’ll enjoy better performance in your workouts.
