Topic of the Week - How Important Is Warming Up

[Admin]

You usally see people stretching their legs before a run, or stretching out any body part before they train it. You'll also see people doing warm up sets before they reall start working out

How important is warming up before a workout?

Does stretching help prevent injury and soreness?

What types of stretches do you perform before a workout? Do you stretch you whole body or just the body parts you are working that day?

What stretching routine do you follow?

How important is the cool down? Does it affect muscle recovery? Soreness?

 

[Fadi]

Topic of the Week - How Important Is Warming Up

This important: The most important program is often neglected until you…CRASH!

I've written about stretching prior to working out and that it's not the same as done post workout. Prior to working out (and after warming up), one may gently stretch his or her muscles. By gently I mean not over stretching the muscle and certainly no long holds in the stretched position. Stretching is a contentious issue and different coaches have different ways of approaching it. I've shared with you the way I do things, some may agree while others may disagree.


Fadi.

 

[Bazza20]

I hate stretching, doesn't seem to prevent injurys at all.

For a warm up I like to just ease into what I am doing.

If I am squatting I do sets with 60kg until it feels good then start increasing the weight, same goes with bench, dead ect

For cardio like footy training doing a easy few laps then some faster run throughs beats stretching any day of the week.

 

[GUNS]

I have never had any issues by not stretching. I do go out of my way however to stretch my left shoulder due to an ongoing rotator cuff injury (had nothing to do with not stretching). Obviously i find it best to ease into a certain movement by starting light for a couple of sets.

I have tweaked my hangstring a couple of times trying to kick a football 100m without stretching/warming up, but that was because i was an idiot.

 

[trofius]

Squats and bench,

first set is light, and slow, for a stretch, usually just a bar. 20kg % 20 reps
second set is a tad heavier ~40kg, 30-40% and faster as a warmup 10-20 reps
3rd set is a weighted warmup, ~60kg, 40-50% 5-10reps
then maybe a few short sets,2-5reps building to my work weights, 1-5 reps

I do like lots of warm up reps.

for deads, i do sldl as a stretch, and hammy warm up ~30%
then weighted deads, 100kg, for 10 reps
then work up to the working weights.

 

[dave]

I find warming up does not stop injury though it can help me perform better if I am not feeling it that day. Some days I have come in with no warm up and smashed out a better session.

 

[Admin]

I don't stretch , just do a few reps with low/now weight and then stack the plates on

out cycling i start off slow do a few minutes at a nice pace of around 20's before ramping it up

 

[kaz]

I ease into what I will be training by starting light, if I am crossfitting its a full warm up!

 

[kaz]

I find warming up does not stop injury though it can help me perform better if I am not feeling it that day. Some days I have come in with no warm up and smashed out a better session.

TRUE!
If I am fatigued or tight from previous days workout, I find it is worthwhile doing a warm up

 

[LAandE]

i do mostly dynamic stretching for warming up and mostly static stretching for post workout.. and static stretching again on non workout days..

 

[The Hamburgler]

Warm Up
foam rolling on upper back, itb and adductor x 10 rolls
ball rolling on glutes x 20 rolls
stick massage on quads and hamstrings x 20
roll overs into v sits x 10
fire hydrant circles x 10 each direction
mountain climbers x 10 each leg
groiners x 10
lying windscreen wipers x 10 each side
posterior capsule stretch x 30s x 2
ss lat stretch x 15s x 2

Takes about 10-15 minutes moving pretty much directly from one to the other in a circuit fashion. Typically drop all the hip mobility if I'm not squatting and add in some light rotator cuff exercises.
Then I like to do a lot of warm up sets with low reps (depends on exactly what I'm trying to achieve for that exercise I guess)
eg tomorrow I am hoping to partial pull 220ish for the odd lift leader board and my warm ups will look like
77kg x 3r x 2s
127kg x 2r x 2s
167kg x 1
197kg x 1
207kg x 1
then play it by ear.

If I was working to a set of 10 squats at say 100kg I'd be more inclined to go 20kg x 10, 60kg x 8, 80kg x 5

 

[dave]

That should read:

Mobility work not warm up

 

[The Hamburgler]

I'm puffing and/or sweating by the end of it so I consider it a warm up.
It's good, it doubles as my cardio

 

[nazzysmith]

I like to always start with an empty bar.... And add 10kg to the bar each set...

Naturally i dont rest for the first 5 to 8 sets... i really like the way this energizes all of the key muscles that play a role in the lift without wearing them out...


Bench example...
20kg x 10
30kg x 10
40 kg x 10
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x5
80 kg x 5
90kg x 5
Rest 3 min
100kg x 5
Rest 3 min
110kg x 5
Rest as long as I like
115kg x 2
Rest as long as I like then 3 sets
122.5kg x5

 

[The Hamburgler]

tbh THAT many warm up reps is a bit overboard.

You have 67 reps before you've even done 1 working set.

 

[dave]

WOH that is one hell of a warmup and not resting between the first 5-8 sets has to be taking away from your worksets.

 

[nazzysmith]

tbh THAT many warm up reps is a bit overboard.

You have 67 reps before you've even done 1 working set.

Yeh mate... Your right... But thats what I do.... Maybe I should review it...

When I squat or bench press I always start with an empty bar like this...

A couple of things...

Im very new to squatting so I like keeping the volume at the lower weights,... This is not holding me back so ill continue to do it... (Unless Trentzor says otherwise when I see them)

With the bench... I usually jump straight on the bench immediately after my last squat set so it is big relief to be lying down... I barely notice the first 5 - 8 sets...

When I start to notice it I back off and reduce... And look to warm into the weight I plan to lift...

 

[The Hamburgler]

TOO MANY WARM-UP REPS!​

Most programs will provide detailed weights, percentages, etc., regarding your work sets, but the warm-up sets are an after-thought. This is NOT something that can be overlooked, especially if you're looking to improve maximal strength! When I worked in a "regular" health club, I witnessed the same warm-up by almost every single person! 135 for 10-15 reps, then 185 for 8-10 reps, etc., etc. If you're looking to train with maximal weights, the worst thing you can do is perform too many reps in your warm-up! This will only fatigue you for the sets that "count". Don't get me wrong -- this doesn't mean you should jump right into your work sets without performing any warm-up sets; but, the key is to perform multiple sets of low reps in your warm-up. This will "save you" for the heavy sets. FYI, if you're someone who routinely performs 10-15 reps with your initial warm-up sets; be prepared to get instantly stronger the day you switch to low rep warm-up sets. On average, I've seen 10-20lb. increases on max lifts when people switch to this "low rep" method...TRUST ME on this one!​

Here's a quick look at how I warmed up last week before benching. My three work sets were 350 x 3, 2, 2.​

After performing a "general warm-up" to increase body temperature and some specific stretches, I hit the bench. Here's the warm-up:​

135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 335x1​

As you can see, I only performed 15 TOTAL reps in six sets. I handled heavy enough weight so that my work sets didn't feel heavy...and the speed of my work sets/reps improved with each set because my muscles weren't fatigued from performing too many warm up reps

Taken from Joe DeFranco's site.

Although he starts out with 135lbs (60kg) I always like to do a couple of sets with the bar

 

[nazzysmith]

Taken from Joe DeFranco's site.

Although he starts out with 135lbs (60kg) I always like to do a couple of sets with the bar

Cool....

Firstly I rep low as it says.... I really don't start to feel anything till its over 100kg... However Im open to trying new stuff...

Ill try this then.... And work towards finding a medium....

20kg x 10
40 kg x 10
60kg x 5
80 kg x 5
100kg x 5
110kg x 3
115kg x 1
Rest as long as I like then attempt 3 sets
122.5kg x5

 

[nazzysmith]

WOH that is one hell of a warmup and not resting between the first 5-8 sets has to be taking away from your worksets.

No... Not really...

Im used to it... feels good actually...

But I have started to plataeu at 122.5kg...

So I will make a change and reduce warm up and see what happens...