Strength training warm-up methods

Stop searching for how many exercises to do and how long to spend before strength training. The best solution that is currently common in the industry and takes into account both safety and training efficiency is "about 5 minutes of low-intensity general activation + 3-4 groups of special preloads corresponding to the training parts." There is no fancy process. It can be done within 10 minutes, which is much more effective than running for 20 minutes first.

Two years ago, I took a student who had just started to train. Every time he came to the gym, he first got on the treadmill and ran for 20 minutes to get sweaty before starting to practice. As a result, his legs became weak in the second set of squats during the first leg training. If someone was not protecting him and he almost got hit by the pole, he thought it was because he was in poor condition. In fact, the logic of warm-up is completely reversed - the core of warm-up is to wake up, not to consume physical energy.

Of course, this statement is not an absolute truth. People with different training systems have quite different understandings of warm-up. If you ask an old bodybuilder who has been practicing for 20 to 30 years, they will most likely let you run on the treadmill for 10 minutes to get a little sweaty before training. They have been training hard all year round and have high body fat. Jogging for 10 minutes does not consume much physical energy at all. Instead, it can quickly secrete synovial fluid in the joint cavity, so that the shoulders and knees will not get stuck during training. ； If you ask an award-winning powerlifting expert, they may wave their hands and say, "I always warm up by adding weight directly to the empty bar." Their joints and ligaments have been worn out by more than ten years of training. The process of slowly adding the empty bar to the formal set is preloading. Novices who don't have this foundation should not copy the homework randomly.

Let’s talk about universal activation first. There is really no fixed list of actions. In the winter, when the gym is cold, you can just ride on the elliptical machine for 5 minutes, or mix in high leg raises and jumping jacks until your back is slightly warm and your hands are warm to the touch. Don’t make your head and face covered in sweat. That’s not a warm-up, but a way to build up your strength in advance. You won’t be able to lift the bar when you push down or bench press. By the way, one more thing to mention here. In the past, everyone thought that you should stretch your muscles first to warm up, such as pressing your legs and stretching your arms. Now mainstream sports science has confirmed that static stretching for more than 30 seconds before training will directly reduce muscle explosive power and increase the risk of injury. If you are really used to stretching, just stretch for 10 or 20 seconds, or do all static stretching after training. Of course, there are also a few studies that say that if you have old injuries or severe muscle adhesions, static stretching of the affected area within 30 seconds during warm-up can actually increase your range of motion. It depends on how your body feels. You don’t have to follow a certain theory.

The core thing is actually special preloading. Many people skip this step because the warm-up is useless. To give you the most common example, your official bench press set today is planned to be 80kg. Don’t hang 80kg directly on the bar after activation. First, take an empty bar (20kg) and press 15 slowly to feel the feeling of sinking your shoulders and tightening your core, and then hang it to 40k. 10 g presses, and then 60kg for 5 presses. If you are in good condition that day, you can even press 70kg for 1 press to find a sense of force. Once the nerves are activated in place and then go to 80kg, you will feel that the push is much smoother than usual, and your shoulders will not be inexplicably sore. Last year, I had a student who found this step troublesome. After warming up, he went straight to the 100kg bench press. As soon as he reached the second push, he strained his rotator cuff. It took him half a year to dare to touch heavy weights. It was really not worth the gain.

When I practice by myself, I also add some small details to the preloading of different parts: before doing leg exercises, I will do 2 sets of clam poses, each set of 20, to activate the gluteus medius muscle, so that when squatting, I will not subconsciously buckle my knees in.； Before doing back training, I will pull two sets of elastic band high pull-downs, each set of 12, to find the feeling of sinking the shoulders and pinching the back, so as not to rely entirely on the arms during the formal set of pulls, and the arms will get sore before the back is practiced. If I'm in a hurry, I'll even skip the general activation and start with a light weight and do special preloading, which is equivalent to merging two steps into one. It's no problem, just adjust flexibly, and you don't have to be stuck in time.

If you are practicing a mixed event such as CrossFit or weightlifting today, with many movements and high explosive requirements, then do all the movements you want to practice today with an empty bar two or three times. For example, if you want to do clean and jerk plus lunges and burpees today, then first do 5 clean and jerks with an empty bar, 10 freehand lunges, and 10 burpees. Once your body is warmed up, add weight, which is much more effective than running around for ten minutes.

In fact, there is no standard answer that must be followed when it comes to warming up. The core is to make your body smoothly transition from the "relaxed fishing state" when you first entered the gym to the "working state" that can carry heavy weights. There is no need to follow online tutorials to complete 10 movements and 20 minutes, and don't go straight to the extreme weight just to pretend to be tough. After practicing for a long time, you will naturally know what your body needs, and what suits you is the best way to warm up.