The top reasons you need to warmup before working out.

 

Make sure you warm up first!!!

Many people skip the warm up, thinking that they are fine and they can just jump straight into their workout without doing it…

And many people “hit the wall” prematurely, because they didn’t take the time to warm up properly and raise their body temperature and get their cardiovascular system revved up for the activity beforehand.

Has that ever happened to you?

Have you ever just jumped (or more specifically, set yourself up properly) on your bench and proceeded to bench press a certain weight without FIRST warming up?

I’m sure you’ve noticed a difference in performance, haven’t you?

Sure, you may be mentally prepared to exercise… but you have to prepare your physical body as well.

Performing heavy activity without first warming up your muscles and your cardiovascular system is like…

Going from 0 to 120 in two seconds: good (acceptable even) for a bugotti… Bad for your heart and your performance.

To stress the importance of warming up before you workout…

Did you know that Tai Chi practitioners warm up before they perform a set?

YES, TAI CHI PRACTITIONERS WARM UP FIRST?

Now.

If followers of such a gentle art have the common sense to warm up first, because they know that when they are warmed up, they can easily and effortlessly “hold the ball” or “Ward off”…

Then doesn’t it make perfect sense that us big macho men (and women) should make sure we take 10 minutes to warm up before we jog..

And warm up before we Lift weights…

And warm up before we play tennis.

The point is this:

Warming up is a way of turning on all the physiological systems in our body and preparing ourselves to function at our best-isses.(my word… use it in front of your boss at your own peril…)

or you can think about it like this:

When you’re on the bench and you about to press 200 pounds COLD, without warming up first with some light reps…

How easy do you think it’s gonna be to activate all those chestical muscle and rep that weight?

You can tell me when you’re in the afterlife…

Do whatever you can to warm up first. The easiest way to gauge whether or not you’re warming is to determine whether or… you’re warming up.

A good rule of thumb that I like to follow is to warm up to the point where the muscle group I’ll be working is warm and feels worked, but not fatigued (there is a MASSIVE distinction between the two states of being). This is essentially a single set designed to light prexhaust the group and get them prepared for the work to come.

I also warm up until I’m in a mild sweat. Then, when I’m warm, I feel extremely confident and my performance is always improved. I can definitely notice the difference.

Take a page from the book of World Class Athletes: No athlete worth his or her salt would ever jump right into training without first warming up for AT LEAST 30 minutes or more.

Warming up is that important…

And while you may not be a world class athlete (yet?), you can still apply that principle to you own training and notice the incredible leaps and bounds in your strength and agility.

Not only is warming up important from a physical standpoint, but’s important from a psychological standpoint as well. By skipping the warmup, you miss out on what powerlifters call ” the psych up”. Psyching yourself up is basically powering-up like a Dragonball Z character, on the physical level. By using self guided imagery, certain postures, and some four letter words, you activate your sympathetic nervous system and get your adrenaline pumping. Of course, you’re not going to be using those four letter words when you’re using the treadmill ( and certainly not around babies!!!). You’re basically accessing a powerfully alert state. You can learn how to create your own states for success by checking out my article here.

If you want a good way get you SNS pumping, try various doses of caffeine. It has been proven increase alertness and pain tolerance. I use a very awesome supplement called Spark when I need an extra kick in the nervous system after a long week. It’s awesome because I don’t get the crash you normally associate with some caffeine products. With all caffeine products, start with the smallest dose to measure your tolerance.

By taking the time to warmup, you’ll dramatically decrease your chances of experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness and you’ll tap into all the reasons you have for pushing forward and staying in shape.

SO today’s lesson kids?
No matter what type of exercise you intend to do:

Whether it’s burpees (I’ll be making a short video on that in the next couple of days, so be on the lookout for it…)

Whether it’s yoga (YES, EVEN YOGA-ERS WARM UP. TAKE THE F@#$%%^ HINT AND DO IT!!!)

Whether it’s volleyball…

Whether it’s calisthenics…

Take the time to…

WARM UP.

If you’re serious about finding a form of fitness training that you can do for the rest of your life AND enjoy it, check out my book, Master Keys To Health and Vitality, and learn how to customize your own perfect fitness program based on your unique personality.
Have fun 🙂

Amir Campbell