From my
observations, however, few people seem to manage this, either performing
far too little work, or doing so much that their warm-up becomes a
workout in itself. I conceptualize the perfect warm-up as a 5-stage
event, as follows:
1
Engage your brain
before putting body in gear.
The
experienced athlete has been thinking about the impending workout all
week. He's rehearsed the workout dozens of times in his mind, and is
already aware of the possible problems he might encounter (such as
dealing with rush hour in the gym or a nagging hamstring pull that might
kick up during the workout).
A
novice trainee, on the other hand, can be identified by the fact that he
doesn't even know what he will do until he gets to the gym (and maybe
not even then!). Since novices typically get novice-level results, I
urge you to explore visualization and autogenic training, both of which
are established methods of maximizing physical performance both in
training and in competition. Some people learn these techniques on their
own, others need instruction. Either way, USE them!
2
If you'll be
training early in the morning, and/or if it's cold out, beef up
the warm-up process commensurately.
3
Training in dry
climates requires a more thorough warm-up than training in humid
surrounds.
4
Older trainees
generally profit from more extensive warm-ups.
5
If you are otherwise healthy but have
"creaky"
joints, error on the side of being too
extensive with your warm-up. After all, the goal of being able to train
takes precedence over the fact that you might fatigue yourself slightly
with an extensive warm-up.
6
The closer you venture toward 1 REP MAX in your
workout, the more extensive your warm-up should be. In other words,
do a more thorough warm-up for 5x5 than you would for 3x12. You can
calculate your 1RM's for your next workout
HERE!
7
You can
accelerate your warm-up through passive means such as a hot bath or
shower. Although active means are superior to passive, often, a
combination of the two leads to great results.
8
On exercises where your own bodyweight is the
minimal load possible(chinups,
dips, etc.), first warm up with similar
exercises that allow lesser loads (e.g., lat pulldowns and
decline bench presses), and then proceed to
the target exercise, using multiple sets of 1 rep. As soon as the next
set of 1 does not feel any easier than the set before it, you're ready
to proceed to your work sets.
9
If you are executing
exercises for antagonistic muscle groups "back to back" (such as
training seated rows with triceps extensions), do your warm-up sets for
these exercises in the same pattern that you'll use for the work sets.
10
If you've done it
right, your middle work set(s) will feel the easiest. For
example, when performing 5x8, the 3rd set should feel the best, and sets
4 and 5 should feel progressively more difficult. If your last sets feel
the best, it indicates that your warm-up was not thorough enough. If
your first work sets are easiest, you may have warmed-up too much.
ON TO THE HEAVY
METAL
If
you've followed my suggestions, you should now feel warm, strong, loose,
and enthusiastic about training hard. It's kind of amazing, isn't it?
Fifteen minutes ago you could barely tolerate the thought of a hard
workout; now you're looking forward to it!
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