Workout Warm-Up

Workout Warm-up

            Lots of times people in the gym try to do an exercise at their maximum weight and see that they are usually disappointed to find that they can’t do what they believed they could.  Usually the problem isn’t that that person can’t do that lift at that weight, it’s usually that they haven’t warmed up yet and their muscles aren’t ready to lift.  In this post I will be talking about the importance of and good strategies of warming up before lifting.

            When beginning a workout your muscles start out cold and lacking a generous flow of blood.  It’s that blood flow that helps give your muscles their strength that’s why a warm up before a workout is so important.  Also the importance of stretching before a workout helps get blood to muscles but it also helps prevent stiffness and cramps during an exercise.  Stretching loosens the muscles to also make an exercise easier.

            Depending on the exercise and muscle groups being worked on during the day will change the warm up and stretching that will be required for those exercises.  Let’s say that you are working on chest and triceps.  A good place to start is by just simply swinging your arms to get them moving.  Then find an easy exercise like pushups, triceps extensions, or pull ups.  Continue to do multiple reps of this exercise, and then continue to stretch your muscles with stretches like pulling your arm above your head and tugging on your tricep for each arm.  Also you could pull your arms back behind you as far as you can to stretch your biceps and chest.  And then start your workout with a light weight and lots of reps until you feel warm and ready.

            Do these before you begin your workouts and you can increase your performance and max weight, it is also a good habit to have because the more you stretch your body the more flexible you will become over time.  Also by doing this you have a better likelihood of increasing your strength because of the advantages of bringing blood to your muscles and the ability to lift at your full potential.

            So remember, always stretch before working out to help your from cramps and stiffness.  Always warm-up to get blood to the muscles and create a better likelihood of lifting more and increasing gains and strength.  Remember, we’re all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.