April 10, 2023

Proper Warm Up

Proper Warm Up

We have all been conditioned that proper warm up is to just go for a run, do something to warm up the "core temp" before any activity. Even as a younger individual before baseball or soccer it was always "understood" we either had to throw at a 30-50 percent effort to warm up the arm or run laps to get the legs warmed up. It kills me to see or hear individuals before they workout, "lets go hit the treadmill or the elliptical" for a "warm-up." The world as we know it is being more and more de-conditioned due technological advancements and the many devices that do something for us from the comfort of the couch. The downfall of being more sedentary is that the brain and body begin to pick up on these longer periods of inactivity as the new norm, so muscles become tight and adaptively shortened. This causes more and more biomechanical faults and joint disfunction. So, now we go from couch or desk to gym which is leading to more frequent injury. Quads and hip flexors are being more dominant leading to pelvic dysfunction and low back pain. The muscles in the front of the neck are also becoming tight leading to posterior musculature to be inhibited due to inactivity and the result is headaches and anterior head carriage. In short, if you are going to the gym and you're not priming muscles that you are wanting to use, then those hypertonic muscles are probably engaging, resulting in further dysfunction due to this dominant tightness. We should always be priming our posterior chain muscles before we work out because these areas are going to be inhibited while sitting. Core muscles should be primed before every workout as well because if we are breathing and bracing with every lift, these muscles are going to be protecting the spine. I challenge you to rethink your warm-ups, to really re-think how you get ready for a proper lift sesh, not only will you be stringer and queued, you will hit work on those muscle groups harder since they will be engaged more. If you're having a hard time sifting through social media posts on instagram, TikTok, or even Facebook, come in and see our movement space. Getting a movement evaluation, experiencing our coaches teaching you proper form, breathing, and how to properly warm-up will not only change your outlook, but also change your body. I look forward to seeing you in our amazing space.

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