Maybe I’ll finally convince you: Warm-ups are real.
Sometimes I think athletes think about a warm-up like some people think about Santa Claus: It’s probably great but isn’t necessarily for me. I’m glad people other believe in it, but warm-ups takes too much time and effort to make it magical.
At some point, it’s easier not to believe: no effort, no worries.
Here’s the shocking thing (ready for it?): Warm-ups are not Santa Claus. It’s not some cute idea that divides us into believers and non-believers.
It’s science. And the science tells us that an effective warm-up has (at least) three primary benefits:
Improves range of motion and flexibility.
Enhances performance in all arenas: Strength, power, cardio, and skill.
Mentally prepares you for the challenge ahead.
Put those all together and you get the ultimate win: Reduce the risk for injury. Play harder AND smarter!
Why isn’t “starting slow” a proper warm-up?
Let’s start with a question: What does it mean to be “warmed up”? By definition it is “a period or act of preparation for a game, performance, or exercise session, involving gentle exercise or practice”. (Google Oxford Languages) After 20 years of working with athletes, I have seen three truths of a high-performing athlete.
A body that is able to adapt and react to its environment efficiently is a resilient body.
The best performance occurs at the intersection of a focused mind and a coordinated body.
Nearly everyone does something funky when they move. The warm-up and drills is the best (and only) place where the athlete can focus on addressing imbalances. Performance time is not correction time.
So, to me, a warm-up is the window of opportunity you have to nail those three truths. Performance isn't about perfecting skills or enhancing agility; those aspects are honed during focused drill and warm-up sessions. These sessions not only refine your abilities but also align your mind seamlessly with the task at hand.
Let’s Break it down
Improve range of motion and flexibility.
When you warm up, your body's temperature rises, which leads to increased blood flow to your muscles. This, in turn, enhances flexibility and reduces the risk of strains, sprains, and other injuries during your workout. By preparing your body for physical activity, you're essentially priming it to handle more intense exercises safely.
When I want to correct bad movement patterns, I always start with mobility restrictions. Whether it’s a hip impingement or a tight low back, I often see muscles that are tight and overactive. This makes it very difficult to engage the weak and underactive. More often than not, the weak muscles are critical to stabilizing joints. The tight guys should be recruited as prime movers, yet many of many patients have converted to using the prime movers as the stabilizers. This is like trying to drive with one foot on the brake: For every motor pattern, your body is constantly fighting itself to create stability.
After making friends with your foam roller or lacrosse ball for 5 to 10 minutes, movements like Upper Extremity Rolling do an excellent job of resetting the pattern:
2. Improving Performance through mental preparation and motor control.
Warming up isn't just beneficial for your body; it's also an excellent opportunity for mental preparation. Taking a few minutes to focus on your breathing, set your workout goals, and clear your mind can enhance your concentration and mental resilience during the workout. This mental readiness can help you stay motivated, push through challenges, and make the most out of your exercise routine.
It's also about optimizing your performance. A proper warm-up routine gradually increases your heart rate, breathing rate, and circulation, preparing your cardiovascular system for the upcoming challenges. Additionally, warmed-up muscles and joints contract more forcefully and relax more quickly, leading to improved strength, speed, and overall athletic performance.
More critically, though, is using warm-up to hone the skills you need for the event. For example, I encourage rock climbers to use crawling patterns on the floor to mimic the demands they will meet on the wall. I often use a bastardized yoga series to kick things off. While this series certainly encourages flexible hips and stable shoulders, more critically it asks you to focus on controlled foot placement. You have to focus on how to generate whole body tension to place the hands and feet purposefully. As a climber, this is a critical skill and one VERY hard to do with intention when working a problem 30 feet up in the air.
Not a climber? This flow actually has it’s place for runners, cyclists and swimmers too! You may recognize the demands of rotating while pressing through your shoulder (freestyle stroke) or driving one leg into hip flexion while extending the other (run gait). Honestly, I’ve yet to meet a sport that doesn’t benefit from glute and core engagement.
3. Address your imbalances
In FMS workshops, Grey Cook often relayed the story of one of his pro footballers. This athlete was an incredible running back but was hindered by hip pain. By working through his kinks, they realized his hip stabilizers on one side tended to shut down. Once he was finished with physical therapy, they assigned him a personalized litmus test: The Single Leg Deadlift. Every day, before he started practice, this athlete would stop by the gym and perform single-leg deadlifts. If the bum hip didn’t perform as expected, he was not to step foot on the field until his deadlift came together. If the SLDL was good, off to practice. If it wasn’t, he stayed in the gym and did his PT until his hip engaged. Grey reported that, after that, the running back rarely had hip issues for the remainder of the season.
Warm-ups are your litmus test. Do your weak things engage? Do your tight things release? Can you breathe with ease? Is your mind tuned in? You don’t have to be a pro athlete to deserve a great practice. But you do have to earn it through the little extra time it takes to prep.
Let’s wrap it up with this:
Warming up is not a step to be rushed or overlooked; it's a vital component of any successful workout regimen. By dedicating a few minutes to preparing your body and mind, you set the stage for a safer, more effective, and enjoyable exercise experience. So, the next time you're tempted to skip your warm-up, remember its immense benefits – from injury prevention and enhanced performance to improved flexibility and mental readiness. Embrace the ritual of warming up, and watch how it transforms your fitness journey for the better. Your body will thank you with improved results and overall well-being.
