All too often I see people walk into the gym, load up the bar with their full set weight, and start pumping out repetitions.
So many people disregard the importance of a warm up, and it could be costing them dearly.
Warming up before lifting serves two basic functions: first, it decreases the chance of injury by a significant margin.
Secondly, and perhaps more convincing, it can allow you to lift even more weight and thereby increase the load you're putting on your muscles.
Even if you're the kind of person that thinks they'll never experience and injury in the gym, the second reason that I listed should give you pause.
Why wouldn't you want to lift even more weight, put even more stress on your muscles, and have even less chance of being injured? All it takes is 10 or 15 minutes before each workout.
A proper warm up should consist of about 5 minutes of mild to moderate cardiovascular exercise.
This could be done on a stationary bike, rowing machine, treadmill, elliptical machine, etc.
It could even just be a brisk, 10-minute walk to the gym (save on gas money, too!).
The purpose of this cardio warm up is to elevate your heart rate, blood flow, and core temperature.
Physical activity also increases the amount of synovial fluid in your joints, which allows them to move more freely.
This short cardio warm up will also give you time to mentally prepare yourself for the workout ahead.
Focus on the muscles you're going to be stimulating, the results you're hoping to see, and the level of intensity you want to achieve.
I like to listen to some 'pump up' music during this time to get myself in the mental training zone.
The second portion of your short warmup will consist of 3-5 sets of whichever exercise you will be performing first.
For example if you are training chest and triceps, you'll want to do a few warmup sets on the bench press.
This is often referred to as 'acclimation'.
It's crucial that these sets not fatigue your muscles.
Remember, this is about preparing your body for a workout, not pre-exhausting the muscles.
Start with approximately half of your repetition weight (if your full-out set weight will be 250lbs, start by lifting 125 pounds).
Here is a sample acclimation routine, assuming our working weight will be 250lbs: -8 reps x 125lbs -6 reps x 160lbs -4 reps x 200lbs -2 reps x 240lbs Note that we stopped 10lbs short of our final repetition weight, and only performed 2 repetitions at this weight.
Again, I stress that you must *not* fatigue your muscles during this warm up.
Once you've finished acclimating, you may begin your workout.
Take a minute or two of rest between your final warm up set and your actual working set.
At this point, your muscles should feel loose and ready for the workout, not pumped up or fatigued.
Some people advocate stretching before a workout.
I prefer to leave this for the post-workout routine.
Even if you choose to stretch prior to lifting, make sure you don't neglect these other two aspects of the warm up.
They can allow you to lift more weight and ensure an injury-free training session.
For more information on warming up, injury prevention, and proper training routines visit the Muscle Gain Guide by clicking on the link below.