What is the best warmup exercise?
The “warm-up” is one of the most misunderstood aspects of training the body.
If you type into google, “what is the best warm up exercise” you will get results such as active stretching, jumping jacks, leg swings, squats, arm circles, high knees, jogging, etc.
The problem is really with the name itself, “the warm-up” which to the layman would imply “getting warm” or “getting a sweat going”.
When really the warm-up does not have anything to do with getting “warm”.
The purpose of the warm-up should be to prepare your body for the forces it is to be subjected to during the workout, sport, or activity.
Injury does not occur because you were not warmed-up in the traditional sense.
Injury occurs because of one of several factors including a lack of:
Strength: too much force/weight for what your body can handle.
Recovery: not giving your body enough time to rest and repair leading to lower strength levels.
Preparation/progression: starting with too heavy a weight and not preparing all the primary muscles for contraction and force.
Technique: this ties in with strength, as poor technique would lead to too much force for certain muscles.
Awareness: of your body’s limits, in terms of your active range of motion, leading to compensation (i.e., being pushed or forced into an extreme position and having to move at another joint to compensate for that – one reason why a lack of hip mobility can lead to lower back issues).
Control: resulting in moving outside of your active range of motion and losing technique.
The most important question to ask is what are we warming up for? Running, squats, bench press, deadlifts, football, etc.
All these activities require completely different warm-ups.
Local preparation is critical.
Thus, the warm-up should include movements that you will be performing during your workout, not other movements that just make you sweat a little.
For example, if you are running, you especially need to think about preparing your ankles, knees, and hips but also your spine for the rotational forces.
A common misconception is that the warm-up is about increasing range of motion; however, if you don’t have the range of motion required for the exercise, then you shouldn’t be doing it.
If there is a structural barrier, normal or abnormal, then range of motion will not change, and force can make it worse. That is why you must respect what you “have” and can control (i.e., muscle contraction/tension).
It should also be noted that, passive stretching is a bad idea before strength training as it is well known to temporarily reduce your strength. It is also the opposite of what you will be doing during an exercise, which is contracting, or shortening, your muscles.
A couple of things should be considered when “warming up”:
Prepare for force:
Prepare the local muscles for contraction (creating tension); isometrics are great for this.
Rehearse the movements you will be performing with easy loads.
Slowly progress contractile effort of the muscles involved (control, tension, and load)
Take inventory along the way; this is vital!
This requires internal focus.
Assess what is your “full range” is today and how it might change during the rehearsal and preparation phase.
Adjust, modify, or even abort the exercise where needed. If it just doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it.
Let’s say you are aiming for 135Ibs for 10 reps as your working set for the bench press. Your warm-up might look like this:
Before even starting your first warm-up set it is wise to rehearse the motion with no weight to check your active range of motion on the day: set the pins to your bottom position (this might change for each workout).
Start with a maximum of 50% of the weight, so around 65Ibs or even 45Ibs for your first warm-up set.
Let’s say you start with the bar weight (45Ibs).
Perform reps with the bar focusing on squeezing the back on the way down; feel for your end range.
Keeping the shoulders retracted, bring the elbows towards the centre of your body whilst trying to contract your chest muscles (the top position).
Spend some time at your end and top positions contracting the corresponding muscles.
Assuming everything feels good (and you have perfect control) after 10 reps or so, you can increase by another 25% to 95Ibs.
Constantly be focusing on how your “internals” (i.e., your joints) feel during the preparation/rehearsal phase.
If you have any clicking or joint discomfort, then adjust or consider aborting the exercise.
However, if everything feels great and you feel strong, then proceed to your working weight.
Constantly focus on your internal sensations during every rep and always remain in control of the weight!
Check out this video for further explanation: https://youtu.be/GMVVpDI5zj0