khany
Senior Member
Warm-ups
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I'm now going to talk about how to do a proper warm-up. While it is very difficult to prescribe a one-size-fits-all warm-up solution for all trainees under all circumstances I'll do my best to lay out some generalized guidelines for most trainees under most conditions. Most people take warm-ups for granted that have been training for a while. I'm often taken aback by the warm-ups that some of the trainees use, or in some cases don't use. I have seen everything from the extreme of not doing warm-ups at all because of fear that it will take away from their work sets. To warm-ups that are workouts in themselves.
A proper warm-up should warm-up the muscles and joints for a particular lift, and also prime CNS to fire. It should not be so little that you are not properly warmed and exposure yourself to potential injury, but should also not be so much that it leaves you drained for your work sets. As a trainer I'm often asked how should I warm-up? Man that is a big question and of course is determined by the particular lift being done, the amount of weight being used, and any joint or muscular limitations.
In general older trainees such as myself need a few more warm-up sets, and need to be extra cautious before going all out. But the more I train people, the more I realize that young people also need to be extra cautious and ensure they are properly warmed up before going all out. Because the way joints get abused is usually in the trainees younger earlier days when they feel invincible and that they can get away with anything-- they can't, it merely feels that way. Often times damage is being done and they are totally unaware of it. More often than not joint injuries are not the result of something going pop, but are the result of cumulative damage done over time.
As you warm-up, fluid is pumped between the joints and the disks, providing lubricty that would not be there otherwise. It is also important to gradually warm up to slowly prime the CNS to fire as strongly as possible. Doing some light calisthenics or jogging and then hitting heavy weights without slowly warming up to your heavy work sets, will not adequately prime CNS to fire optimally.
When someone askes me, how should I warm-up? I often chuckle. Warm up for what? A 405 pound squat, or 105 pound barbell curl? Big difference here! It should be obvious that the barbell squat will take many more lifts, and start at higher warm-up poundage
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I'm now going to talk about how to do a proper warm-up. While it is very difficult to prescribe a one-size-fits-all warm-up solution for all trainees under all circumstances I'll do my best to lay out some generalized guidelines for most trainees under most conditions. Most people take warm-ups for granted that have been training for a while. I'm often taken aback by the warm-ups that some of the trainees use, or in some cases don't use. I have seen everything from the extreme of not doing warm-ups at all because of fear that it will take away from their work sets. To warm-ups that are workouts in themselves.
A proper warm-up should warm-up the muscles and joints for a particular lift, and also prime CNS to fire. It should not be so little that you are not properly warmed and exposure yourself to potential injury, but should also not be so much that it leaves you drained for your work sets. As a trainer I'm often asked how should I warm-up? Man that is a big question and of course is determined by the particular lift being done, the amount of weight being used, and any joint or muscular limitations.
In general older trainees such as myself need a few more warm-up sets, and need to be extra cautious before going all out. But the more I train people, the more I realize that young people also need to be extra cautious and ensure they are properly warmed up before going all out. Because the way joints get abused is usually in the trainees younger earlier days when they feel invincible and that they can get away with anything-- they can't, it merely feels that way. Often times damage is being done and they are totally unaware of it. More often than not joint injuries are not the result of something going pop, but are the result of cumulative damage done over time.
As you warm-up, fluid is pumped between the joints and the disks, providing lubricty that would not be there otherwise. It is also important to gradually warm up to slowly prime the CNS to fire as strongly as possible. Doing some light calisthenics or jogging and then hitting heavy weights without slowly warming up to your heavy work sets, will not adequately prime CNS to fire optimally.
When someone askes me, how should I warm-up? I often chuckle. Warm up for what? A 405 pound squat, or 105 pound barbell curl? Big difference here! It should be obvious that the barbell squat will take many more lifts, and start at higher warm-up poundage