HOW TO WARM UP

Warming up for a strength workout is very simple

You walk in the gym, grab the empty bar and start squatting with proper form.

You get the blood flowing, while practicing the technique of the first lift of the day and moving some weight.

Then you perform 2-4 warm-up sets with increasing loads and decreasing reps, approaching your workset weight. So for example, if you were to squat 100kg, this is what your warm-up would look like (load x reps x sets):

20kg x5x2

60kg x5

75kg x3

90kg x1

Rest 3-5’

100kg 3x5

No rest is necessary between warm-ups in most cases, just enough time for you to load the plates, put on your belt and get under the bar.

This looks pretty simple. Too simple for some personal trainers and coaches out there, who instead prescribe 30 minutes of stability and “activation” exercises that only make their jobs easier and hourly rate profitable. Some of these firmly believe that these warm-up exercises are extremely necessary for injury prevention and increased performance. They believe this right before having their client do kettlebell upright rows, single leg dumbell split squats or high bar half squats, balance them on bosu balls, or whatever else falls under the category of “functional training”. All of which are more likely to cause pain and injury than correctly performed squats and deadlifts with much heavier weights.

If it’s not the stability and rehab routine, then it’s some mild aerobic activity, which is not necessarily decrimental to strength training; just not useful, especially before the workout.

Being hot and sweaty is NOT an advantage when going for a heavy set of 5 squat, believe you me.

We are not in the gym to activate single muscle bellies, get hot and sweaty or scroll on our phone while foam rolling on our back.

We are in the gym to practice and train specific movement patterns that already include a functional range of motion and ability to warm-up the whole body.

There is a small percentage of people for which immediately walking to the rack and start squatting is not possible, mostly middle age and elderly people whose lives are usually more sedentary and have a higher level of fragility and chance of injury.

If you’re under 50, do not suffer from a serious injury or musculoskeletal disease, and find yourself stretching and stairmastering before a workout, you are wasting your time.

Keep it simple, save your energy for what you came in the gym for.