Warmup Routines

[spezzy]

So, I'm interested in what everyone's warmup looks like.

My typical warmup:

-Circles (lots of them. shoulder circles, hip circles, neck circles)

-Active Downward Dog type thing - where I get into downward dog and then do a running type stretch.

-yoga wheel

-1 or 2 active yoga movements based on what i'm working on that day

-15 Squats

-15 SL Deadlift type things (I make the movement of the SL deadlift, but have no weight)

-15 Pushups

-15 Inverted Rows

-50 Jumping Jacks

-100 Butt Kicks (basically high fast running in place)

What about you guys? Anything you see that im missing/you would change?

[Knightwatch]

I skip mine waaaaaaaaay too often. I'm trying to get better.

I usually try to get on the foam roller for a few passes over my thighs, spine, and lats. I do some arm and neck circles too, and usually some leg swings. Then I sorta do a general bounce in place on the balls of my feet and just sorta shake everything out, like a boxer in his corner before the bell.

Then I do a few warmup sets on my first couple lifts.

What I'd LIKE to start doing are these. The few times I've made myself go though the whole routines (which are short), the better I feel.

http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask_joe/archives/ask_joe_08-10-03.html#question04

And a video with a few of the drills:

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiA0-IatUrY&feature=player_embedded

And this, for the upper body:

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxr6xAB5ZM&feature=player_embedded

[werwolf]

Because of my shitty spine, before I do anything at all in the gym (including going to a class with an included warmup) I walk on the treadmill for 15-20 min to loosen up my back. If I didn't I would be in a world of pain.

[inferiormadbeing]

Should your warm up vary depending on your level of fitness? Do you need to warm up for longer (or more intensely) if you are more/less fit?

[MegaCarp]

My warm up varies, but is typically 10 minutes on the elliptical or the arc trainer. After that, its time to get down to business

[MMyers]

Bridges and Supermans for my back, and some jumping up and down to get everything warm. Jumping Jacks if I'm outside.

I also do the Bridges and Supermans in my regular workouts. Since the pain is in my lower, lower back, the Supermans help more, but the Bridges are for overall back/spine health.

[spezzy]

I skip mine waaaaaaaaay too often. I'm trying to get better.

I usually try to get on the foam roller for a few passes over my thighs, spine, and lats. I do some arm and neck circles too, and usually some leg swings. Then I sorta do a general bounce in place on the balls of my feet and just sorta shake everything out, like a boxer in his corner before the bell.

definitely going to try to add some of those in.

im a huge fan of foam roller stretches, but my gym's roller's come up missing recently. i wonder if i did them at home before i left for the gym (which takes me about 10 mins to get to) if theyd still do any good.

[Raincloak]

Should your warm up vary depending on your level of fitness? Do you need to warm up for longer (or more intensely) if you are more/less fit?

Nobody should skip warmups, because if you're unfit your muscles are surely all tight and you need to loosen up, and if you're fit (work out often) you have all the more reason to make sure you don't get injured, because then you'd miss your active routine.

You might want to take longer and begin the warmup more gently if you are not fit, because you are less up to date on your body's limits and the body is likely to be less tolerant of overwork. For instance, some newbies would consider Spezzy's warmup a full-scale workout.

p.s. ALSO, DO NOT SKIP COOLDOWNS. Warmups are important, but cooldowns are, if possible, more important. You need to cool down and stretch after the workout is over, because if you just go straight back to the desk or couch, your muscles will seize up and cramp and you will be very miserable. Trust me, I know of what I speak.

but that's just my opinion, I'm not an official trainer or anything.

[inferiormadbeing]

Nobody should skip warmups, because if you're unfit your muscles are surely all tight and you need to loosen up, and if you're fit (work out often) you have all the more reason to make sure you don't get injured, because then you'd miss your active routine.

You might want to take longer and begin the warmup more gently if you are not fit, because you are less up to date on your body's limits and the body is likely to be less tolerant of overwork. For instance, some newbies would consider Spezzy's warmup a full-scale workout.

p.s. ALSO, DO NOT SKIP COOLDOWNS. Warmups are important, but cooldowns are, if possible, more important. You need to cool down and stretch after the workout is over, because if you just go straight back to the desk or couch, your muscles will seize up and cramp and you will be very miserable. Trust me, I know of what I speak.

but that's just my opinion, I'm not an official trainer or anything.

Thanks for the feedback! I think doing some yoga stuff may help me as I've only got a small space to work in.

Yeah spezzy's "warmup" would be probably be a bit too much given I'm only just getting back into it! I learnt the hard way about cool downs, walking around for a couple of days with seized up legs was no fun at all. So I'm paying close attention to doing lots of stretches after my workout.

[spezzy]

ha, yeah, i made that up to try to hit everything really quickly - but ive been at it for a while everyone's warmup will be different depending on their level

i think you need to warm up different amounts depending on what you're doing - like if i'm doing a bodyweight squats day i'll probably skip them in the warmup.

but raincloak is right. never ever skip your warmup or cooldown.

when you say youre doing yoga stuff, do you mean static yoga stuff? or is it active?

warmups should be more active, cooldowns should be more stretching.

[inferiormadbeing]

I'm mostly good at not skipping things per se now I've recovered from when I did the first couple of times!

Regarding the old yoga, probably some active stuff to make my warmup a bit more varied. At the moment I just end up doing lots of star jumps and burpees so doing something different would probably help extend it and make it more effective.

My cool down is exclusively stretching but it's still pretty basic so learning some dynamic stretches I could do in a small space would probably be a good plan.

[Altair]

If I'm about to go on a run, I generally don't do anything beforehand. I just go.

If I'm going to lift weights or play a sport, I do some stretching... yeah that's about it. I'm not much of a warmup person. O_o I almost always cool down with a couple minutes of stretching, though.

Also, spezzy, that's a pretty epic warmup. I would consider that a workout in itself.

[The Ghost Writer]

I start off by stretching/flexing/rotating my muscles, from the neck down, and then I do something cardio-related... like running, or jumping jacks, or whatever... I generally use the warmup to get my heart rate elevated, and then I strive to maintain it at that level for the actual workout.

If I'm just going for a run, or a walk, or playing some kind of sport, stretching is usually good enough for me.

[inferiormadbeing]

Anyone got suggestions for stretching your deltoids? I think I overdid it on Monday trying to starjump with weights (a whole 4 kilos ) and then didn't stretch it out properly.

[dna]

^I'm having a similar issue on my left side while doing my pushups....

I mostly skip and do jumping jacks for warm up followed by a Circuit of Squats. Pushups, Crunches *3 reps.

[Alethea]

If you're planning on pushups, do arm circles in your warmup - forward and back, say 15-20 times. I had constant rotator cuff issues which made pushups painful, so started the arm circles. Haven't had an issue since!

Deltoid stretches (they all hit the muscle in a different way, so try them all out and see what hits your spot):

1. Straight-arm Front Deltoid Stretch: Bring your stretch arm across your body, below your other shoulder, and bicep curl your other arm to draw your stretch arm tight to your torso. Experiment with how your stretch-hand is positioned - I get the best stretch with my fingers out, thumb pointing up.

2. Bent-Arm Front Deltoid Stretch: Bring your stretch arm across your body, curling your arm below your other armpit around your side. Hold your stretch elbow with your other hand, and draw it even further down and around you. Twist your upper torso without moving your feet.

3. Eagle Pose Arms: Do the arm pose of this: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/785 . Do the full stance if you're adventurous.

4. Twist: Do the arm pose of this: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/487 . Or the full twist, of course. You can move your anchoring arm to intensify the stretch.

5. Stand straight, put your arms straight behind your back, and link your hands. Raise your linked hands behind you.

[kahn265]

After the past couple days - I'm upping my warmup routine!

I'm probably going to start doing one of these

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#General6

or

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/53_06_Burgener_Warmup.pdf

I really don't want a repeat of the past couple days.....

[inferiormadbeing]

If you're planning on pushups, do arm circles in your warmup - forward and back, say 15-20 times. I had constant rotator cuff issues which made pushups painful, so started the arm circles. Haven't had an issue since!

Deltoid stretches (they all hit the muscle in a different way, so try them all out and see what hits your spot):

1. Straight-arm Front Deltoid Stretch: Bring your stretch arm across your body, below your other shoulder, and bicep curl your other arm to draw your stretch arm tight to your torso. Experiment with how your stretch-hand is positioned - I get the best stretch with my fingers out, thumb pointing up.

2. Bent-Arm Front Deltoid Stretch: Bring your stretch arm across your body, curling your arm below your other armpit around your side. Hold your stretch elbow with your other hand, and draw it even further down and around you. Twist your upper torso without moving your feet.

3. Eagle Pose Arms: Do the arm pose of this: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/785 . Do the full stance if you're adventurous.

4. Twist: Do the arm pose of this: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/487 . Or the full twist, of course. You can move your anchoring arm to intensify the stretch.

5. Stand straight, put your arms straight behind your back, and link your hands. Raise your linked hands behind you.

Hmm I already do 1 and 5, I shall try the others and see how I get on. Shoulder felt better this AM so I did normal bodyweight workout without weighted star jumps and will hopefully not be sore again tomorrow!

[mk47funk]

I try to get on the foam rollers also, and I also make sure to do some hip flexor stretches, and mine are always tight. I'll jump on the bike or rowing machine to get the heart rate up, and then if there's enough room I'll usually do a series of skips (A skips, B skips) and if I have the equipment or something like it, some hurdle hip mobility drills. I'd recommend hurdle drills to anyone looking to supplement their current warm-up - they are great for pretty much any excercise you'll be doing afterwards, especially big lifts like Squats and Deads, or sprinting.

[dna]

@Alethea: i used to do Garudasana (Eagle pose) and Bharadvajasana (twist) earlier but now i have been lazy... still trying to up the ante and get back on track with my Yoga.... I guess i'll start to incorporate arm circles in my list thanks for it!!

[Guest Carjack]

I do lots of weight lifting before I stretch.