No Thanks-Poor Warm Up

By Dalton Harris, CPT

Warmups are essential in prepping the body for exercise.  They get the muscle temperature up, and it increases the elasticity of the muscle allowing for a better range of motion.  Warmups are often overlooked, or movements that have no benefit are performed because it may be what some “fitness influencer” may have done on Instagram or TikTok.  However, these movements may actually hold no benefit in preparing the muscles and lead to injury as you head into your main exercises. 

What Makes a Good Warmup?

A great warmup should include dynamic movements that move the joints that will be worked for the day throughout their respective range of motion.  These movements should begin at a lighter intensity and transition to more ballistic movements at the end.  An example of a beginning movement may be the world’s greatest stretch to work on opening up the hips prior to a leg day workout, and then the final movement would be something more explosive such as high knees to really get the muscles warm. 

It is also important to warm up in different planes.  Many people warm up in just the sagittal plane, but it is also important to warm up in the frontal and transverse planes as well because it will help to warm up key muscles that are important for stabilization during compound movements.  Some movements that would be done in the frontal plane prior to a leg day would be side lunges and frontal plane leg swings.  Some movements that may include the transverse plane would be a lunge with a trunk twist.  This trunk twist occurs in the transverse plane and will help to warm up the oblique muscles. 

How Can I Improve My Warmup?

To improve your warm up routines a great start would be to ask the fitness staff in the gym.  If you come in to the facility with some soreness, maybe ask the staff member on duty how you could progress the warm up for that specific area to prepare it for the session.  Below are links to different warm-ups depending on the exercise you plan to perform on a given day.

Chest

Leg day