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[Article] The most important program is often neglected until you…CRASH!

Fadi

...
Strike up a conversation in your gym with the “experts” there, and more often than not it’ll be all about the same old thing: volume, intensity, frequency, free weights vs. machines, protein, carbs, fats, supplements, steroids (at times), and on it goes…

So what is most important that is often neglected you ask? Warming up properly before you commence your workout and stretching afterwards that’s what!

Ah yes I nearly forgot; you don’t have the time, you’re in a rush (always?), you don’t find it important, it does not excite you like the “meat & potatoes” which you are so eager to get into. I know, I left the best excuse (not valid reason mind you) til last: “it drains me…makes me tired/takes away from my workout”, or “man I can feel my glycogen stores dissipating before my eyes”!

Really?!

To the ones who know me well, I can hear your objections from here behind my computer screen. You’re objecting because I’m mixing Olympic weightlifting with simply weight lifting/bodybuilding/weight training etc. Well let me tell you right here and now that your body sees no difference between any/all the iron lifting. You see injuries, be they the muscle kind or the joint kind, do not differentiate between the above mentioned sports. It’s all weight lifting as far as your body is concerned. All of them have a level of stress increase that is placed on your body as a whole, so a proper warm is one of the tools we use to get us primed and ready to smash the weights...safely.

In a nutshell, a proper warm up is being prescribed here no to burden you, weigh you down, and/or sap your energy reserves, no; this mighty powerhouse of a tool is here to help you improve your performance and prevent or at least minimise as many injuries as possible not to mention the possibility of extending your lifting career.

Okay, so what would be the first thing on the menu if not meat & potatoes? Well take your pick from the following body core temperature raisers:

  • Brisk tread mill walk
  • Stationary bike ride
  • Rowing machine
The above is done for no less than 5 continuous minutes where your heart rate has increased, perspiration began to appear on your forehead, and a feeling of warmth all over your body has been felt.

Now we move on to what I’d like to call: The Block.

The block is a set of exercises done one after the other with a very light weight…as in an empty 20kg bar or lighter. First we raised our core temperature and revved up our metabolic rate; now we move onto waking our neuromuscular system up.

The Block: (or the magnificent seven).

  • Power Snatch x10
  • B/neck press x10
  • B/squats x10
  • Snatch balance x5
  • Clean + 2 jerks x5
  • Walking lunges with the bar x20 steps
  • Push-ups x10
Rest for 1 minutes then repeat before moving onto stretching (or until you feel you’ve loosened up properly). So having raised our metabolic rate, woken up our neuromuscular system, and warmed every joint in our body, it’s now time to increase our muscles’ elasticity so as to insure a full range of motion in our movements is achieved and to prevent a muscle pull or tear.

That’s it! About 15 minutes of your time allocated to some entrée before you dig into that juicy stake that is just waiting to be devoured by your primed and ready to go muscles.

Don’t forget the dessert after you’ve had the main course okay! I’m talking about some good and long muscle stretching here.

To all the bodybuilders, I’d like you to replace the “Block” with 7 warm-up exercises of your choice, ensuring a full body involvement here.

Example:

  • Seated rowing
  • D/bell bench press
  • Lat pulldown
  • B/neck press (or military press if you’re worried about injury)
  • Dead lifts
  • B/bell curls/French curls
  • Squats
All the above done without rest for 10 reps each with a light weight that has “good-morning or good-evening muscles and joints” written all over it.

Now you can proceed to do your intended workout.

PS: Someone may come and say: “but why do a warm-up set of squats when my intended workout would be shoulders and arms (for example)?”

My answer is have you not heard of the most famous way elite athletes injure themselves? It’s most often whilst they’re not even in the gym for God’s sake! Or even if they be at the gym, all it takes is for them to move a weight /lift a weight from point A to point B in the wrong way and BANG, there goes the hamstring, or the lower back or whatever else that you lifted with whilst you were not in your best line of power (because well…the weight you were moving was ever so light)!

I’ll leave you with this final thought:

They say a smart man is one who learns from his own mistakes, but a wise man is the one who learns from the mistakes of others…

Thank you for your time.


Fadi.
 
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I'm very slack with my warm up. E.g if I'm doing bench I'll do 10 reps light then 6 reps 50%. 3 reps 80%. 1 rep 90%. Then I get into it. I generally only strech when I'm sore to which sounds "simple minded" considering my injury list. Thanks for the article Fadi, just because you said it I'll give it a go.
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I'm not slack...I don't even do any warm up!
Thanks for the reminder, I will integrate this into my workout, cos I was just thinking how I was picking up a few niggles and soreness lately and that I should do some warm up to avoid a serious injury, because I would hate to stop the workouts, I'm just starting to really get into it. So thanks.
 
Guilty as Charged!

Will incorporate 15mins into
the work out.

Fadi once again you are
very timely!!!:D
 
That's a general warm-up, and very good. Fadi is absolutely right, people more often injure themselves moving around the gym with weights than they do in the actual exercise.

I just do a specific warm-up - if I'm going to squat, 3 sets of squats at 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 the work weight.

And always a stretch afterwards. My clients get 60 minutes, the last 10 minutes is stretching. This makes a big difference to recovery, the stretched parts usually aren't sore the next day, and it's a mental cool-down, too - they relax and leave the workout feeling better than they started it.
 
Another quality post Fadi,

I am also Guilty of not stretching properly after a workout.

It's mainly my lower to mid back where i feel the tightness after squatting.
 
Warmup what the hell is a warmup???

Jokes aside, I skip, do some walking lunges, skip again, a few mobility exercises and that's it, probably 5-7 minutes followed by 50% squats for two sets. I really need to add the barbell complexes back in like I used to, but I've been lazy. Thanks for the proverbial kick in the ass Fadi.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
Might give this a shot

I do some serious warmups though, say for a 5rep 150kg squat i'd do:

10xbar
5x40kg
5x60kg
4x80kg
3x100kg
2x120kg
1x140kg

But a dont stretch afterwards, havnt stretched for 15 months actually
 
Great post Fadi. I need to start doing more stretching/warming up. Today I think I'll do a 5 min walk on the treadmill and some of the exercises with bar weight. And I'll also stretch afterwards which I usually forget to do..
 
I can't believe how many of you don't warm up properly, your lucky you haven't injured yourself.

For a chest workout for example, I do 5 mins of decent pace on the rowing machine to get all my joints moving, then 20 x bar, 15 x 60kg 12 x 80kg and 10x100kg, then get into the working sets. It's very important.
 
Epsom salts and sodium bicarbonate are two ingredients that are great for muscle relaxtion when added to a warm bath. For aching feet, soak them in warm water with methylated spirits added in.

Being Aussies, we've got the best oils here for massage and I'm thinking of that all rounder oil, the mighty Eucalyptus Oil.

I'm glad the article was of some help to you and I thank you for your wonderful comments.

Hello, brother I've told you before but here it is again; you look simply awesome whe you strike that pose, it's like wow!


Fadi.
 
I can't believe how many of you don't warm up properly, your lucky you haven't injured yourself.

For a chest workout for example, I do 5 mins of decent pace on the rowing machine to get all my joints moving, then 20 x bar, 15 x 60kg 12 x 80kg and 10x100kg, then get into the working sets. It's very important.

So true Morgan, so true. Man your warm up is some one else's workout for God's sake! Truly impressive Gentle Giant!


Fadi.
 
My warm up is empty bar x 10

then add waight 3 times and boom into it..


Lazy i know,

How much time do you al have??

Some times i dont have time to stretch it is either eat or stretch, due to classes...

I thought warming up by going through the movements was the best way? And if your starting with squats then thats a fair warm up ?
 
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I warm up with squats or dead lifts they come first.

I do warm up with bar bell presses before squatting,
I press before squats.

I get a good stretch with the exercises I have chosen so I feel there is no need for stretching after a weight training workout.
Having said that; stretch what's tight.
But be careful how far you stretch, it could more harm than good.
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Silverback makes a good point, stretch what is tight. For me that is my calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors. This are 3 important areas where you will be tight and need optimal flexibility. Up top it is, for me, the anterior shoulder girdle muscles and internal rotators. Find what needs work for you and what is too stretched and try and even them out for optimal function. One example is overly stretched and weak rhomboids and lower/mid traps vs tight anterior shoulder muscles.
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