Talking Warm Ups

Let’s break it down.

STATIC STRETCHING IS NOT A WARM-UP: That’s old school thought. Research shows that static stretching before a workout is NOT beneficial to the muscles or joints and actually increases risk of injury… This is not new news, please stop stretching as a “warm up.” If you want to add in some range of motion (ROM) work, I recommend that you do so AFTER you are warm.

WARM-UPS: for any workout, regardless of type, should be just that - a WARM UP. Get your body warm and your blood flowing by increasing your heart rate. I also use this as time to get my mind right, get your mind clear of bullshit and focus. Think 5-10min incline walk or whatever type of cardio you want, steady or gradually increasing intensity.

PRIMING - Now this is the good stuff! When it comes to a strength training workout especially - think about PRIMING the body for the movements that you are going to be doing. Get the muscles you want to work in your lift firing. Turn on the mind/muscle connection. This is also a great time address any imbalances that may be specific to your body. Maybe you are quad dominant and need to get your glutes firing, or maybe you have a bad knee that needs some extra attention before you add weight on it. This is the time to address all of those things!

I like to do this two ways:

1. Use the first set of your exercise to do this. Light weight, more reps. Send the signal to the muscle that we ready to work. Then, add the weight and do WORK as you go through your actual sets. As trainers we call these your “working sets.” This is what I do, 100% of the time in all of my lifts.

2. Do a set of priming exercises BEFORE you start your lift. These could be body weight or resistance band exercises that target the same muscles you’re going to target in your workout. I do this a lot with clients.

3. FOR BOTH OPTIONS: Think about controlled movement, full ROM, light to no weight, squeeze your reps, get blood flow into the muscle. And actually THINK about the muscle you want to do the work DOING the work.

Below is an example of a set of priming exercises specifically for glute activation, or you could use them on leg day to make sure your glutes are firing correctly. I like to use bands, but you could also do just body weight:

1. Glute Bridges - pelvic tilt FIRST, then squeeze your butt and slightly abduct knees at the top. 

2. Lateral Walks - sit into and lead with your HEELS. All 10 toes and knees face front. 

3. Squats/Pulses - full ROM, toes slightly wider than shoulders, squeeze glutes at the top. Make sure you don’t thrust your hips forward, squeeze UP and IN. Pulse em low to really burn!

4. Kick backs - think lifting UP and slightly to the side, lead with your heel. 

3-4 sets, 12-15 reps should do the trick, but you can do whatever it takes to get that burn. #feeltheburn

3 #PROTIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FITNESS ON (OR BACK ON) TRACK

Most of us will spend a significant amount of time THINKING about starting a fitness plan before actually jumping in. There are a lot of steps that you can take to just get STARTED on a new program or to work on behavior changes. Remember that change takes time and starting with BABY steps that focus on establishing healthy habits will earn you big rewards in the future. Try to think more about ADDING in positive changes vs TAKING things away from yourself. Your mind is a powerful muscle, keep it thinking positive to increase the likelihood of LONGTERM success.

Tip 1: Maximize the amount of meals you eat/prepare at home - aim for no more than 3 meals per week eaten out. You will be able to control a lot of calories by knowing WHAT is going into your food prep, even if you don’t start a specific “diet.” And give yourself time to ease into a meal prepping and planning routine. Don’t try to change everything all at once. Start with 1 or 2 meals per day that are the easiest for you to prepare and work your way up to a full day of meals once you get the hang of it.

Tip 2: Pick a realistic number of workouts you can accomplish in 1 week, maybe it’s 2, maybe it’s 4, this will depend on what you’re already accomplishing. Work on hitting that initial goal for 2-3 weeks. Then, start to build a routine that will take that number up to a minimum of 5 scheduled workouts per week. Bonus tip - make 3 of these strength training based to increase your lean muscle mass for maximum health benefits.

Tip 3: Increase your water intake - focus on hitting 1 gallon of water per day. And like the above tips, work your way into this. It may take a few days to get used to drinking this much water. Also, start to minimize the amount of calories you consume from other liquid beverages which often come with added sugars and calories. Bonus tip - get yourself a 1/4 or 1/2 gallon water bottle to help you stay on track. This one is my personal favorite: 1/2 gallon water jug