Maximizing Your Workout Every Single Day

I hope I caught your attention. I knew that "Keys to a good warmup", wouldn't do the trick.

Try not to think of this as your regular boring reminder of why we warm up. I want to show you that pre workout routines, if understood and implemented, can be motivational and very impactful. This can apply to a workout or before participating in any physical activity such as a sport that day. So lets get right to it:

The Order

1. Mobility

Stretching until the muscle detaches itself right from the bone (sarcasm), is truthfully what most people used to or still do. What we are doing when we stretch excessively, is damage muscle fibers. This is similar to what we are doing when we lift, just without weights. With that being said, does it make sense logically to put that strain on muscle before training? Let's instead utilize mobility work. This can help us tap into a greater range of motion prior to exercise. For all intents and purposes, mobility work is short term. Yes we can see some long term benefit from it. The major benefit that can be gained from mobility work before training is tapping into that range of motion prior to training it. Take this for an example. You have poor shoulder mobility. This could be due to several reasons, but let's say you have had no previous injuries. The likely cause of the immobility is your lats are locked up (that muscle under your arm pits). If we can tap into a greater temporary range of motion in the lats, we can train overhead (such as a landmine press) with proper form. Now you are loading your temporary range of motion. This is the bang for your buck. This is how we adapt long term!

Below is an example of one of my favorite mobility drills. You can find others on my YouTube Page!

2. Activation

Obviously we are always "activated." If not, we wouldn't be standing, moving, training, etc.. What many people deal with is the inability to maximize potential out of certain muscle groups due to over compensation through a different muscle group. Let's take a look at glutes as an example. Many times people will have trouble fully utilizing their glutes when training or playing their sport. This may force compensation from the low back (YIKES), or hamstrings (YIKES). This is not good. It can lead to hamstring tightness and injury, or low back injury. If we utilize activation drills to fire up the glutes before training, we can more efficiently utilize them during exercise leading to a long term adaptation.

Here is a way we can utilize glute activation:

3. Dynamics

This is where we can discuss why we warm up:

- Increase heart rate/blood flow/body temperature

- Stimulate the central nervous system (get muscles firing)

- Decrease risk of injury

- Increase mobility/range of motion

- Prepare yourself from a mental standpoint

We have tackled most of these points already. The big aspect to a good dynamic warmup is to increase your heart rate, increase blood flow, and increase body temperature. By accomplishing these 3 things in a warmup, we drastically reduce our risk of injury. A cold and tight muscle is injured much easier! A good goal to have when warming up is to try to get your heart rate to ~75% of your maximum heart rate. Now if you don't have a heart rate monitor, or don't know your max heart rate, you can take this simple approach. Break a sweat. The single handedly most important aspect to take from this article is, break a sweat before training. Now this doesn't mean partaking in a long, and exhausting warm up. Get a quick sweat and go into your session energized and loose. This will solve many of your problems. Taking the extra steps with mobility and activation are going to take you a step above. Dynamic warmups should be gradual in speed. What this means is, initially the dynamic warmup should be slow paced such as lateral lunges. By the end of the dynamic, is where we start to sweat. Examples include skipping, or high knees.

Below is a slow dynamic exercise followed by a faster movement.

The Bottom Line

Far too often we see athletes or adults walk into the gym and get started lifting. Longevity and overall health is why we go to the gym. By not properly preparing your body for activity, the risk of injury increases. If you deal with injuries due to not being properly warmed up, you are defeating the entire purpose of why you come to the gym in the first place. Next thing you know, you need time off of the gym. Then you lose your progress and start with a clean slate. You now understand the importance of warmups through all aspects above. Along with that, it is a great way to put you in the zone and mentally prepare yourself to get better every single session. Don't think of it as just a warm up. Think of your pre workout routine as a way to maximize your potential for the session. Win every single day!

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Throughout this article, I have provided you with examples for mobility, activation, and dynamic drills. If you are interested in seeing more, you can find them on my Youtube Page. Also, never hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!