A good warm-up has more of an impact on your workout than you may realize. It may feel tedious or even pointless, but it plays a very important role in the effectiveness of your workout. If you have ever skipped a warm-up or wondered why you even bother with it, then this article is for you.
- Reason 1: Get Your Head In The Game
- Reason 2: Increases Synovial Fluid in the Joints
- List Item 3: Brings Oxygen and Nutrients To the Body
- List Item 4: Improves the Technique of Lifts
Get Your Head in the Game
A dedicated 5-10 minute warm-up can work wonders for your mindset. Taking that time to switch your mind off from the daily stress – or the stress you anticipate for the day if you’re an early riser – will allow you to focus all of your energy on the workout.
This may seem trivial but your level of focus can actually play into the safety of the overall workout. If your mind is wandering when you’re supposed to be bracing your core before a squat, then you risk not bracing properly. Although you can perform a squat without bracing, the risk of injury increases because you haven’t stabilized the spine. If there’s anything that will add unnecessary stress to your day it’s a sore back.
So during your warm-up find ways to set aside the world outside of the gym. Bring in music and get lost in that while you warm-up. Or be very intentional about the warm-up exercises you choose and think about how they will impact your upcoming workout. If your muscles or your joints are feeling tight, try to really focus on that feeling.
Increases Synovial Fluid at the Joints
The human body is made up of many fluid and structural elements. Each of these serves a specific purpose and the synovial fluid (found in synovial joints) is especially important.
This fluid is found in the joints that we use most often – think shoulders, knees, and elbows. Synovial fluid acts as a cushion between joints as it is thick enough to reduce friction between the cartilage of the bones. When we warm-up our body temperature increases. When the body temperature increases, it helps the synovial fluid warm-up and allows it to do its job properly.
As an example, think about when you first get out of bed in the morning. Your knees and your shoulders will move, but they feel stiff and sticky. As you start your day all of a sudden you notice there’s less stiffness in the joints. This is due to the synovial fluid requiring some time and an increase in body temperature in order to create that fluid barrier between the bones.
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Brings Oxygen and Nutrients to the Body
As we now know, a good warm-up encourages the movement of important fluids in the body. One of the most important fluids is blood. Blood carries things like oxygen and broken-down nutrients like glucose. As the blood circulates through every area of the body, it delivers the oxygen and the nutrients to the site that need it.
Our muscles run off of a few different fuel sources. Creatine-phosphate, which is stored in the muscle, glucose, and oxygen. The glucose and oxygen need to be on its way to the muscle in a steady flow in order to have a steady supply of energy.
If you’ve ever been doing an exercise and have gone to failure where it feels like you have no control over whether your body can keep doing the exercise, it’s likely because the blood cannot deliver the nutrients fast enough to that area.
Will a good warm-up protect you from reaching muscular failure – no. But will it make the first few sets a little easier than if you had not done a good warm-up – yes. This is why dynamic warm-ups are more effective than just simply stretching. In a dynamic warm-up, you are moving the body and the movement will signal the body to start pumping some of the blood away from the organs, and towards the muscles and joints of the body.
Improves the Technique of Lifts
The final reason to have a good warm-up is that it will help with your overall technique in your main lifts. Many athletes will actually use their warm-up to help connect their minds to the muscles they will be training that day.
If you think about it right now, do you notice your glute muscles? How about your pectoralis muscles (the muscles across your chest)? Most people do not think about how these muscles feel as they work throughout the day.
By performing specific warm-up movements, you can make a very direct connection between the muscles and the mind. This translates into better recruitment of those muscles during technical movements like the deadlift and the bench press. Better recruitment means you get the full benefit of the exercise.
If you have ever skipped a warm-up or wondered why you bother with it, we hope that you now realize just how crucial it is to your success. Not only will it improve your focus during the workout, but it will actually protect your joints and help them move better! A good warm-up will help signal to the body that it is time to start delivering those vital nutrients to the muscles and joints. Finally, if technique is important to you (which it should be), a great warm-up will make that oh-so-important mind-to-muscle connection, meaning no workout goes to waste.
Author: Riley Pearce
riley.pearce.fff@gmail.com
Director of Social Media and Marketing
