One of the most overlooked elements of working out is the warm-up. By not giving this aspect of the workout proper attention, you run the risk of sub-optimizing your performance or worse yet, inviting injury.
There are two distinct phases to an effective warm up: general and specific. Each has a purpose and can increase the overall effectiveness of your workouts.
The General Warm-up
The general warm-up – which involves performing a brief bout of low-intensity, large muscle group aerobic-type exercises. The goal of the general warm-up is to elevate core temperature and increase blood flow. This not only helps prevent injuries, but improves workout performance as well. In fact, there is evidence that doing both a general warm-up with a specific warm-up increases maximal strength to a greater degree than performing a specific warm-up alone (Abad et al. 2011).
Five to ten minutes is all you need for the general warm-up – just enough to break a light sweat. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being sitting passively and 10 being extremely high intense) your goal should be a 5. Both during and afterwards you shouldn’t feel tired, winded or out of breathe. If so, dial back on the intensity. Remember, you’re not trying to burn fat or improve your cardiovascular fitness; the goal here is merely to warm your body up and accelerate blood flow.
Here is an example of a general warm-up using simple body weight exercises that activates all major muscle groups and establishes effective breathing technique.
BREATHING PREPARATION
A good warm-up should emphasize effective breathing so that you body gets all the oxygen it needs during the workout.
Lie on your back on a mat or towel, knees bent, feet hip width apart (measure this from the hip bones, not the outer edge of your hips).
Inhale through the nose, exhale through pursed lips. Upon the exhale draw your navel inward and upward and flatten your tummy. Place one hand on your navel if you like to feel your muscles working.
Draw up the pelvic floor muscles gently. If you don’t know where these are, the easiest way of describing them is to say that these are the muscles you use when you are trying to hold in a pee! Continue breathing 5-10 times with these muscles pulled in.
Neck and shoulders should stay loose at all times.
LEG LIFTS
These will stabilize your pelvis and provide a foundation for strong abdominal muscles.
Lie your on back, knees bent, hip distance apart. Inhale to prepare – slowly exhale and lift one knee at a time. Keep fingertips on hip bones to check for movement. Press your lower back into the floor slightly as you lower the legs to avoid arching and over working the back. Keep abdominals pulled up and in. Repeat 5 sets.
ABDOMINAL PREPS
These curls prepare you safely for more challenging abdominal exercises. You can either perform them on the floor or on an exercise ball. One thing to remember: never jam your chin into your chest, which results in too much compression of the neck.
Lie on your back either on the floor or across an exercise ball, keeping pelvis and spine neutral, which means neither tucking under with your hips nor arching your lower back away from the floor/ball.
Knees are bent, feet hip- width apart on the floor. To prepare, inhale then cradle the back of your neck in your hands, interweaving your fingers. It is VERY IMPORTANT you do not tug on your neck. Gently curl up, pulling in your stomach, aiming to slide your rib cage toward your pelvis. Hold for a count of two. Slowly lie back down. Repeat 5-8 times
KNEELING STRETCH
On hands and knees-line up shoulders with hands and knees under hips. Back is straight and neutral. Inhale to prepare – exhale to draw in abdominals, then without shaking or moving torso slowly reach opposite arm and leg.
Hold for 1 full breath, then return. Repeat 3-4 sets.
GENTLE BACK EXTENSION
This exercise uses your upper back muscles to lift your head and shoulders off the floor into a 
gentle back bend instead of pressing up with the arms. Keep your stomach pulled in at all times to protect your lower spine. Lie on your stomach, keeping pelvis and spine neutral. Legs re straight and together. Elbows are bent, hands by shoulders. To prepare inhale then exhale.
Gently slide shoulder blades down and reach top of head away from tailbone to begin lifting upper back. Allow rib cage to open and maintain bottom ribs in contact with mat.
Hold this position for a count of two and breathe into sides of rib cage without losing your abdominal contraction. Breathe out and lower upper torso to mat, returning to starting position.
Repeat 5-8 times
REST STRETCH
This exercise stretches your back and abs out the other way, warming up your muscles for the next part of your routine. You can also use it any time to stretch out during your exercise session and it is excellent for general relaxation.
Sit
back toward heels, hips lifted, arms wider than shoulders– hold 5 – 10 deep breaths. For tight lower back/hips, place knees wide apart for comfort.
Ideally, you want to be able to rest your rear on your heels and stretch your arms straight out in front of you, hands flat on the floor. If you cannot manage this, then the picture at left shows a safe adaptation.
The Specific Warm-up
The goal of the specific warm-up is to improve neuromuscular efficiency in performing a given exercise. To optimize benefits, select those exercises that are similar as possible to those in the workout. For example, if you are going to perform a bench press, then the specific warm-up should use performance of light sets of bench presses. This approach helps the neuromuscular system “rehearse” the movement before it is performed at higher levels of intensity. Specific warm-up sets should focus on correct form and never should go to failure. Remember that the focus with the specific warm- up is to facilitate performance of the heavier sets.
How much time is needed to do a specific warm-up? It depends on the exercises, intensity and volume planned for the workout. Bodybuilder and fitness coach Ben Patulski says, “When you’re ready, you’re ready!” Take the time you need to prepare your body for the demands of the workout. This can be 5 minutes or 20 minutes. Listen to your body,
Because your core muscles are involved in almost all exercises, I recommend doing 5 minutes of core exercise along with your specific warm up. Having your core muscles warm and activated prevents injury and improves overall performance.
Make sure that you spend the proper time and attention to your warm-up so that your time working out produces the best results.
What warm-up exercises work best for you?
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