What does your warm up look like?

[newbeginning1996]

Hurt my back during a workout this week and am second-guessing my warmup. I normally do a few practice sets of my first lift at increasing weight (e.g., 135x10, 155x7, 185x5). I was talking to my buddy that has been lifting longer than I have, and he does "active stretching", bands, and more for about 10-15 minutes before his first lift.

What do you all do? If you do "active stretching" or something similar, what exactly do you do? Does it change depending on what lifts you're doing that day?

 

[farmgal30]

@newbeginning1996 I just do whatever exercise is first but for light weight and high reps, deceasing reps and upping intensity

 

[newbeginning1996]

@farmgal30 That’s exactly what I was doing when I got hurt. Could have just been bad luck and bad form for that rep though

 

[julien]

@newbeginning1996 I do modified "Wenning Warm ups".

A typical Wenning Warm up is 3 exercises, 4 sets, 25 reps each. So 100 reps per exercise, 300 reps total. A very light weight, just get the body moving.

Mine is only 3 sets, but I add 3 minutes of light cycle at the beginning.

Upper Body:

3 mins bike

Band face pulls

Band push downs

DB press

Lower Body:

3 min cycle

KB swings

Goblet squat

Abs of some sort

 

[lndavout]

@julien Oh I like this! I should try this.

 

[mikeb34]

@newbeginning1996 5 minutes of jumprope.

 

[predrag]

@newbeginning1996 Basic hip circles, sitting in an ATG squat, then specific warm-ups.

Upper body is shoulder circles then specific warm ups.

 

[seekeroftruth0]

@newbeginning1996 3-5 minute ‘Raise’ period. Steady on an erg, bike, run etc. A bit of dynamic stretches then start building up from there. If this is for barbell squats then start light for 10 reps, then add weight and decrease reps until goal reps/ sets.

 

[lndavout]

@newbeginning1996 I do a few minutes in a cardio machine, elliptical or row usually since it uses more motion.

Follow that with some body weight squats maybe walking lunges and swing the arms w a dowel.

Then before every set I do a low weight high rep warm up and rest for 30sec or so before getting started.

Edit to add: when I had a trainer they always had us do banded side steps with a slight squat and inch worms. I should really do those…

 

[mikedelmar]

@newbeginning1996 Many years ago having embarrassingly collapsed under a meager 225 on the squat without safety bars sending the weight flying into other gym goers due to a inner thigh cramp I always do a bunch on dynamic leg stretches, arm circles, hip rotations and then deep squats with light weight and move around in the bottom of the squat and then slowly move the weight up to working weight. Honestly if I'm not feeling the working weight for whatever reason I reduce it that day. I focus on listening to my body over following a very rigid routine with prescribed weights and sets, to avoid injuries.

 

[cleebrin]

@mikedelmar Agree completely on listening to your body. I do whole body workouts 3x week. Some days I'll push certain parts more than others. But if I'm not feeling it (or if I'm inching too close to 'failure' for my liking) I back off for sure. I pushed too hard about 5 years ago and partially tore a pec. Throw in some knee surgeries etc over the years and I do NOT want to risk injury. Recovery sucks SO much more as you age.

 

[niko92]

@newbeginning1996 None. I should stretch before and after.

 

[pinoytvshows]

@newbeginning1996 I do my static stretching the night before, right before bed.

For warmups I usually do jumping jacks for a minute or so to get my heart rate up, followed by some body weight squats and push ups.

Then for my first couple of major movement I’ll do it with just the bar, then with a weight below what I plan to do for my working sets.

 

[_%D7%A1%D7%AA]

@newbeginning1996 I always warm up. First squat at 135 when the working weight is 185 seems like a heavy start for me. My working weight is right about 185 and my first sets are 65 x paused; 95 paused; 135 x3; then working weight.

My warmup before j even touch the bar is 5-10 minute dynamic yoga & stretching routine. Few poses, few active stretches, repeat the sequence twice. Add rotator cuffs on bench days. It’s always the same routine so I can gauge improvement in flexibility and it’s a signal to my brain to get ready to lift heavy stuff.

Consider sets of BirdDogs, as done by Squat university on You Tube, as a way to treat and prepare your back for big weights. Helped me tremendously.

Things like unweighted baby’s squats, angle board body weight squats, and dead hangs are all great.

 

[tongdtbds3]

@newbeginning1996 I do a 5-8minute 15% treadmill walk to get my body warm and loosened up. Then i do some dynamic movements like shoulder rotations or leg swings depending on if it's a lower or upper body workout. Then I start doing practice sets leading up to my work sets

 

[perplexedearthling1]

@newbeginning1996 Ten minutes of yoga

 

[cancerous90]

@newbeginning1996 I do 3-5 mins cardio and then agile 8 on heavy lifting days (as well as ramping up to working weight with a couple sets). Otherwise just band pull-aparts or shoulder circles or something like that.

 

[khazel23]

@newbeginning1996 Warm up sets of the body parts im about to hit, and then i use bands before i start using my working weight

 

[hoosierrn]

@newbeginning1996 I do 5 minutes of walking on a treadmill just to get my heart going, then lower-weight reps of whatever I'm on, followed by the target weight.

But I'm not up to a level of lifting really heavy yet. Would probably do band exercises if so.

 

[ncfelix]

@newbeginning1996

1. ~90 secs of calisthenics (high knees, jacks, etc)
2. ~90 sec of dynamic stretching (hip circles, arm circles, etc)
3. Start lifting