“Are you prepping to move…or prepping to fail?”

The first step in reaching your fitness goals is reaching for the ceiling and touching your toes – of course, I mean movement prep or warm up. 

Think about when you were in school and you had a big exam.  Before the big test you would open the books, check your notes and study.  Studying is just warming up your brain.  The same way you need to prepare for a test – or any big moment in your life – movement prep is a major key to achieving an effective, healthy and safe workout.

I could not tell you how many people I see funnel into gyms in the Bronx, parks and bootcamp classes that just think it’s a good idea to waltz in,  not properly warm up and jump right into intense training.  The bottom line is those people are sacrificing a maximum of 10 minutes of their day and potentially doing themselves harm.

The reality of the matter is that warm ups are really simple and beginning your workout with an effective warm-up program provides you with a number of benefits.

First and foremost, properly warming up and will loosen up muscles, joints and ligaments, minimizing the risk of strain and injury.  In addition to that, a proper warm-up routine will increase your range of motion, a pivotal factor in any type of training that allows for maximized results as well as minimized fatigue and recovery time.

An excellent way to begin is with foam rolling.  We have previously discussed the importance and benefits of foam rolling on my blog (increases blood flow, lengthens muscles).

When foam rolling, and warming up, it is pivotal that you hit every major muscle group.  You’ll want to begin any routine by focusing on hitting your quads, hamstrings, inner thighs, glutes and calves.  Your legs are where you will generate the majority of your strength and stability and without a proper warm up, the risk of serious injury skyrockets.

While you’ll want to focus on your legs first, a routine that also hits your upper body is remarkably beneficial as well.  Despite what most people may think, you have more muscles above your waist than just biceps and pectorals.  It is important to activate your lats, obliques, shoulders, upper back and abdominal muscles.  As aesthetically pleasing as a sculpted and toned upper body looks, the fact of the matter is there are stabilizing muscles that need to be properly warmed up before training.

An ideal program will incorporate techniques from different fitness disciplines.  Combining stretches, body weight movements, yoga and resistance training, you will be able to properly activate all muscle groups and ensure that you will have an efficient, effective workout.

It’s not just the start of your workout that you will need to worry about either.  After you complete any strenuous physical activity, it is important to take time to properly cool down and stretch again.  After a workout your muscles are not only tired, but they are in a state of shock and have blood rushing into them.  Stretching and cooling down will prevent the muscles from constricting and tightening up as well as allowing for increased blood flow and growth.

Once again, these warm-up and cool-down routines are simple, relaxing and take only a few minutes, but will dramatically enhance your experience before, during and after your training regimen.

Whether you train in a one on one, semi private, or group training we coach all our clients to properly warm up.

Call us to find out more information or to Reserve your spot for one of our group personal training session at 917-432-9418.