In this blog, we'll cover the importance of getting your body ready for training and the best ways to incorporate dynamic mobility and activation exercises into your warm-up Routine. We'll also discuss how these strategies can help you fully prepare for each workout session.
What is a warm-up?
A warm-up is a series of movements that prepare the body for activity. The goal is to increase blood flow and heart rate while enhancing coordination and balance. It can be done before or after your workout, depending on what you need at that moment in time. A proper warm-up should last between 10-15 minutes and consist of dynamic stretching (movement), static stretching (holding), and mobility exercises (movement).
Dynamic Warm-Up
The dynamic warm-up is a series of exercises that prepare the body for physical activity. It can help improve performance and reduce injury risk, so doing it before physical activity is important. Dynamic stretching should be done at the beginning of an exercise session, before strength training or cardio activities.
Dynamic stretching involves movements in different planes and directions--forward/backward, side-to-side (lateral), rotational--and includes joint mobilization. This type of movement prepares muscles for more intense exertion without causing them to tighten up too much during your workout.
Why do we need to warm up and activate the body before training?
Warming up is an essential component of any training session. Warming up prepares the body for exercise by increasing blood flow, oxygen delivery, and metabolic activity. This allows you to perform at your best without risking injury or fatigue.
Activation strategies are also important because they help activate muscles in preparation for movement patterns used during training. For example, if you plan on doing a deadlift workout today but haven't activated any upper body muscles yet (with pushups), it could cause discomfort when trying to pick up heavy weights off the ground later on!
Activation Exercises
Activation exercises are a great way to prepare the body for movement and increase the joint range of motion. They can be used during your warm-up before lifting or during your cooldown after training. Activation exercises are often used with other mobility tools, such as foam rolling or stretching. Some examples include:
- Knee flexion drill - kneeling on one knee, lift the opposite leg behind you until it's parallel with the ground (or higher). Hold this position for 10 seconds while maintaining tension in both hamstrings; repeat on the other side. Hip flexion drill - lying flat on back with feet planted firmly into the ground and knees bent at 90 degrees, raise one leg straight out to form a line from hip to toe; hold this position for 10 seconds while maintaining tension in glutes; repeat on another side. Ankle dorsiflexion drill - standing with feet together and toes pointed forward, place hands behind head with elbows pointing outward toward ears; slowly roll ankles outward toward outer edges of shoes until you feel the tension in calves and Achilles' tendons; hold for 5 seconds, then return heels toward centerline until you feel relief from pressure against tendons. Shoulder internal rotation/external rotation - stand facing away from the wall with arms extended forward at shoulder height (palms facing down). Tuck chin into the chest while keeping elbows locked out above shoulders, without allowing upper back posture to change significantly, lower body towards the floor until forearms touch the wall. Keeping shoulder blades pinched together, draw arms backward by rotating them around the torso so palms face up towards the ceiling. Return arms to starting position(d). Repeat steps 2 through 4 five times on each side
Compensatory Strategies and Tissue Quality
Compensatory strategies are great for getting in the zone and performing your best. They can be used as an alternative to static stretching or dynamic flexibility training but only partially replace either method. Compensatory strategies are more beneficial when used with other warm-up and activation exercises because they help prepare the body for more intense physical activity by improving tissue quality and decreasing injury risk. Tissue quality refers to how well your muscles, joints, ligaments, and other soft tissues perform their functions--it's basically how well your body works as a whole.
A warm-up with dynamic mobility work and activation exercises can ensure you're as prepared as possible for your training session.
Warming up before training is important for two main reasons:
- It increases the body's temperature and circulation, which can help prevent injuries by improving the muscles' elasticity.
- It prepares your nervous system for activity by stimulating it with light movements and increasing blood flow to key areas like the brain and spinal cord.
This is where activation exercises come into play. These are movements or stretches that activate muscle fibers without putting any strain on them--think of them as a way to turn on all of your muscles without actually working them out! Activation exercises target many of the same joints as dynamic mobility work does (such as hips), but they're more focused on specific parts of those joints (like glutes) rather than trying to loosen everything at once with fast-paced movements like those used in dynamic warm-ups.
The three commonly used types of warm-ups
There are three common types of warm-ups:
- Stretching is the most common type of warm-up and involves holding a stretch for some time.
- Active warm-up involves moving through a range of motion while maintaining good form.
- Passive warm-up (or "passive flexibility"), which involves using an external force (like gravity or someone else's help) to move into your optimal position for improved tissue length and joint flexibility--but with less muscle activation than active movements would require
How to Design your dynamic warm-up Routine
The best way to design your dynamic warm-up Routine is by choosing movements specific to the goals you want to achieve and the muscles you will use during exercise. For example, if you're going for a run or doing some bodyweight exercises at home, consider including stretches for hip flexors and quadriceps (front of thighs). If it's an upper body day at the gym, focus on shoulder mobility work with cable pulleys or bands.
The key here is ensuring that whatever exercises are chosen are done dynamically (i.e., moving through ranges of motion) rather than statically (staying in one place). This leads us neatly to our next point:
A proper dynamic warm-up can help you achieve better performance in the gym.
A dynamic warm-up is a series of exercises before training to increase blood flow and prepare the body for activity. Including this Routine in your workout is important because it will help reduce the risk of injury, improve performance, and make you feel more ready for the activity ahead.
A proper dynamic warm-up should be tailored to your needs as an individual and can vary from person-to-person depending on their specific goals or physical limitations. For example, if someone has an ankle injury, they may want to avoid lunges during their warm-up but instead, focus on exercises like hip flexion/extension movements (like side leg raises).
The three commonly used types of dynamic warm-ups include:
- General Warm-Up - This type utilizes low-intensity movements such as marching in place or walking around while holding light weights at arm's length overhead with palms facing forward;
- Specific Warm-Up - This type involves higher intensity activities such as skipping rope or jogging lightly around 200 meters before starting resistance training sessions;
- Activation Exercises - These are exercises designed specifically to improve the range of motion surrounding joints such as ankles/knees/hips, etc.,
Conclusion
If you want to maximize your performance in the gym and avoid injury, it's important to take the time to warm up and activate your body before training. A dynamic warm-up will ensure that your muscles are properly stretched out so they don't get injured during exercise. It also helps increase blood flow throughout the body, which will supply nutrients to working muscles faster than a normal resting state would allow for
