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Singapore Personal Trainer Says: Make Your Warm Ups Effective
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What Makes a Warmup

When we think about warmups somehow our minds go back to physical education class in our school days. We were told to move into several stretches and stand here and hold this position for a count of 20.

These stretches were undoubtedly followed by several laps around the track of field. You know what... this is not all that bad.

In fact physical education lessons 2 times a week is more physical activity than most people get in this day and age. But remember we want to have an attitude of excellence. not all that bad just wont cut it.

Lets look at this way. How many of us have the ability passion athletic background genetics or even the desire to train for a place in our countrys Olympic team Not many right However does that mean that the nonelite athlete or even the regular person at a gym should train in a less than optimal (Olympian) way I would hope not.

Of course we would not be lifting the weights that they can. We would not be running jumping or swimming as fast or as long as they do. If we look at the basics they are the same as us however they are just more finetuned.

An Olympic sprinter has exactly the same number of muscles performing the same functions as the couch warming TV addict. The Olympic Athlete is just able to generate more power with greater efficiency.

Somewhat like a F1 Racecar versus a broken down 1970 Nissan Sunny. The sunny may never Race on the F1 circuit. If we install a new engine which is represented by more muscles now suspension which is represented by better joints and bones and a new body kit represented by reduced body fat the old car will do very well in a race. Thats great considering its former state of disuse and illtreatment.

The Warmup techniques in this article are the beginnings of the transformation of that run down Nissan. The warmup exercises will prepare your body for training.

* Your cardiovascular system will be activated

* Your joints and connective tissue will be more pliable

* Your nervous system that controls your muscles will be activated

* Your balance and reaction time will be improved.

* Your body will be in motion negating the effects of keeping the body in a fixed position (usually sitting down for extended periods) as is common in our sedentary lifestyles

The exercises are designed to bulletproof your core and major joints from injury. Injury is frustrating prevents progress and is also uh...inherently painful.

The warmup exercises are so important that if you really had a tough day with zero time for yourself all your planning (you did plan to train right) and all your scheduling (you did plan time to train right) went down the drain... the very minimum that you should do on that day is a series of warmup exercises.

If you are having a regular workout the warmup exercises should be done before the training session. The components of a warmup are:

Self Myofascial Release (SMR)

This is a fairly new piece of warmup technology. It simply means self massage for parts of our body that may have knotted up muscles. These knots cause the muscles to become shortened tightened and weak. Normal stretching does not help here. The illustration is one of a rubber band with a knot in it. Stretching does not help. The knot remains and the rubber band does not function optimally. SMR gets rid of the knots. This is very cost effective and also helps you feel great. I have had experiences with clients who come is super stiff and tight. A few sessions of SMR and they feel like they are 30 years younger. SMR is an article in itself but there are some good videos out there. One is called Foam Roller Techniques by Coach Mike Boyle. The commonly used tools are foam rollers and tennis balls. Depending on how tight you are you should spend 315 minutes on SMR.

Static Stretching

Static stretching is the most ancient part of the warmup. However it has been shown to deactivate muscles (which makes sense because we have stretched them and now we want them to contract forcefully during exercise thats not going to happen!). Deactivation is bad because it makes our strength training session less productive. But what if we WANT to deactivate the muscle That is the case for some of our tight and overactive muscles. Common ones are the hipflexors (front of thigh and hip) the thigh adductors (inner thigh) and the upper trapezius/levator scapulae (neck). Because of our seated and hunched postures (long hours of computer use etc) these muscles get tight. Static stretching helps here. 2 sets of 20 second holds per tight muscle should be enough. Remember this is done AFTER SMR. (the knots are gone now we can stretch effectively)

Dynamic Stretching/Muscle Activation

Now the fun begins there are numerous movement drills and bodyweight exercises that can be used in this category. The key idea is to increase body temperature and activate muscles so they work properly during the main workout. The key muscle to activate is the glutes (buttocks) because these are not well conditioned in most people. Failure to use them properly will lead to hamstring groin and lower back muscles bearing excessive strain. That is a recipe for injury. Good instructional DVDs for dynamic warmups are Magnificent Mobility and InsideOut.

Core Training

I have added core training to the warmup because many clients I have coached have bad functionality of their core muscles. The key muscles are:

Transverse Abdominus (TVA) This muscle performs the drawing in of the belly button. This is a skill that is lacking in many people especially those who have excessive lower back arches. Stand up straight with arms overhead and think of making yourself as thin and as tall as possible as if you were trying to squeeze between two vertical poles which are close to each other. Hold the drawnin position for 5 seconds. Repeat this 5 times.

External Obliques This is trained by moving the hips to the shoulders. Any kind of reverse crunch trains this movement

Internal Obliques This is trained by moving the shoulders to the hips any kind of crunching movement trains this. Take note the crunch movement curls the body into the smallest possible ball it does not bring the face to the ceiling

Lateral Flexion This is achieved by all kinds of side bridging.

Do 2 sets of 510 reps at a controlled speed.

Once you have all these elements in your warmup you are ready to train. It should take you 20 minutes or less to complete this. But it is important enough not to skip it!

Coach Jonathan Wong is Singapores Top Personal Trainer and Fitness Expert. He is a sought

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