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When people think of warming up, the first thing that pops into most minds is either jumping on a bike for 5 minutes or doing some light stretching to get the muscle feeling good before pumping some iron.  The ironic thing about this is both of these aren’t true warm-ups.
 
When I first sit down with my clients, especially the ones who’ve never exercised before, a lot of them don’t even understand why they should warm-up.  They’ve probably heard someone say, “You should always warm-up before working out,” but I’m convinced they don’t know why those people say that.  How do I know? … because very few of my clients even go through the motions of a warm-up before meeting for our first workout.  Most just walk through the doors, back to the lock room, and come straight to me ready to go.
 
Here’s the thing, as I was saying just a second ago, riding a bike or stretching shouldn’t be considered a true warm-up.  True, riding a bike will get the heart rate up, the blood flowing, and the muscles a little warmer, but if that were all that was needed to prepare yourself for a workout, then why don’t we see professional sports teams warming up that way before the game?
 
With the Super Bowl this weekend, this is the perfect time to put this question to the test.  Watch what goes on in the pre-game routine for the Patriots and Giants.  You don’t see the players riding a bike the whole time, and you sure don’t see the players going through some easy stretches for the entire pre-game routine.  You’ll see Tom Brady throwing passes to Randy Moss, or the Giants’ Lawrence Tynes practicing his field goals.  (At least Giants’ fans can only hope he is.)

If you‘re a faithful reader of my articles, then hopefully you remember my article on the importance of being careful with static stretching before a workout.  I originally said that holding a stretch for 30 seconds at a time before workouts has been shown to decrease muscle strength and increase the risk of injury as a result of the muscle being too loose and susceptible to tearing.  I also said that for most people, stretching before a workout should consist of 1 set of 5-10 holds of 2-4 seconds each.  Well guess what?  That was only partially true.  If all you’re doing is stretching before your workout, then yes, you should be wary of static stretching, but if you’re committed to doing a full dynamic warm-up, then static stretching is okay because it’s part of the whole dynamic warm-up process.
 
A true warm-up isn’t just riding a bike or stretching, a true warm-up is a dynamic warm-up.  What’s a dynamic warm-up?  Glad you asked.  A dynamic warm-up is one that simulates what your workout will be like.  Going back to the Super Bowl example, a dynamic warm-up is going through the motions of the game.  In an “Average Joe” example, it’s doing some exercises that’ll get the body moving through an entire range of motion while stimulating the nerves and muscles.  Basically, what that means is it’s doing more than just riding a bike or stretching.  Like I said, a bike is great for getting the blood pumping, but does it simulate the lifting movements you’re about to do?  No.  Does stretching simulate lifting movements?  No.

I regularly get emails from a trainer named Ryan Lee; Ryan really is an extraordinary guy because he’s not afraid to lay it out there.  He doesn’t sugar-coat fitness, and he sure doesn’t back down when the critics get on him for being too harsh.  A while back ago, I got an email from Ryan that was about a fellow fitness professional he knew.  This guy was telling a story about a high school football game he saw.  I can’t remember all the details, but basically, he said the game was close going into halftime.  When the teams came out of their locker rooms, after halftime, he noticed how one team was going through the routine of holding basic stretches for 30 seconds.  What he said was interesting though was how the other team was warming up.  The other team was going through a high energy warm up full of sprints and simulated plays.  Guess who ended up winning the game?  That’s right, the team who warmed up with high intensity; they blew the other team out!  He said that the team that did nothing but stretch was asleep for the entire 3rd quarter, and didn’t even show any effort until it was too late.
 
What’s the point of this story?  The one team did a dynamic warm-up that energized the players’ neuromuscular systems, and the other team didn’t; their neuromuscular systems were half-asleep because all that sitting around in the locker room wasn’t followed up with some exercises to get things going again.

Sure stretching can lengthen muscle and the surrounding tissue, and riding a bike can get the blood flowing and the muscles warmer, but a dynamic warm-up offers something that those two can’t provide, and that’s the ability to prepare the nerves and muscle to be able to work efficiently together.  A warm-up that involves movements simulating workout movements does just what you think … it prepares the body for the similar, but even more intense, movements that are about to occur.

Next time you’re in the gym, make sure you incorporate a dynamic warm-up.  Exercises such as high knees, jumping jacks, skipping, hopping over a line, arm circles, and standing pushups against a wall are all great dynamic warm-up exercises; they get the body ready for action.
 
So here it is … foam roll (it’s in the flexibility article), static stretch, and then do your dynamic warm-up.  If you can deal with the extra time commitment to warm-up the proper way, it’ll pay off in the long run.

Dan Falkenberg is the co-founder of Your Live Trainers. He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.

Tags: exercise selection, flexibility, injury prevention, program design