What Is An Effective Pre-Workout Warm Up?

How would you describe your warm up routine?

Does it include a bit of running or cycling with some stretching? It's generally thought that warm ups are necessary to increase the blood flow to your joints, ligaments and muscles making them more elastic to help prepare them for the more strenuous exercises to come.

Is a 10 minute cardio warm up the best way forward? Not necessarily.

So what kind of warm up routine prepares your body properly for a great workout? Well, it depends on your workout. I think your warm up should be workout specific.

If your gym program consists predominantly of weights then running on a treadmill for 10 minutes won't prepare you that well. The movements patterns are not the same.

I recommend that if you're going to lift relatively heavy weights then your core should get a good warm up because it's the core that helps stabilise your whole body as your perform exercises such as squats and lunges. 

If on the other hand you want to run 5 miles then doing some similar movement patterns such as brisk walking, short 5 minutes bursts of running or cycling will help.

Example of a good overall warm-up for a weights program - Squat with medicine ball

• Grab a fairly light medicine ball in both hands and adopt the squat position, holding the ball out in front of you. This is your start position.
• Draw your belly button in
• Drive your legs up, lifting the ball and extend it up and over your head. Your finish position should be you standing on your toes with your arms stretched high above your head holding up the medicine ball.
• If you have the space you can throw it over your head! Then return to the start position. Perform this exercise for as many times to build up a sweat.

There are many theories floating around as to how to warm up for any given exercise. I personally believe that if you keep your warm up "program specific" e.g. do some light squats to prepare your body for a full set of heavier squats then your body will know what to expect allowing you to give your maximum during your program.