The Warm-Up: The Underrated Opportunity for Consistent Progress.
Too often the warm up is overlooked as being a “less important” part of the class workout, or one that does not assist in progressing towards our goals. At CrossFit Propolis we see great value in the warm up of the day, and it has much more purpose than simply “getting warm.”
Our purpose in this article is for you to rethink and revalue the warm-up, its purpose and the benefits it has for your progress.
So what is the purpose of our warm ups?
To raise total body and muscle temperature to prepare the entire body for physical activity.
Warm muscles contract more forcefully and relax more quickly, reducing the risk of over-stretching a muscle and causing injury. Your overall body temperature also increases, which improves muscle elasticity; this can enhance speed and strength. The temperature of blood increases as it travels through the muscles. As blood temperature goes up oxygen is also more readily available to working muscles, which in improves endurance.
To prime the body for movement patterns to come.
We want to teach the body to move the way we want it to. This may look like reinforcing proper squat position & mechanics, or even teaching powerful hip extension for Olympic Lifting work through jumping movements.
Activation of particular muscle groups specific to the session of the day.
Most of us will sit down for long time periods during the day. As a result muscles such as our glutes become lazy or inactive. Without proper activation prior to using these muscles (think movements such as squats or deadlifts) we are unable to stabilise our lumbar spine - hello lower back pain!
To prime the central nervous system.
Using plyometrics or other explosive movements help ignite your central nervous system (CNS), maximising your performance in dynamic, explosive movements such as olympic lifting or gymnastics.
To improve range of motion & mobility.
Focused time putting joints through their full range of motion will help to improve range of motion and mobility short and long term. It will also allow you to improve movement patterns for the workout of the day, meaning you are able to train proper, effective and safe movement patterns as opposed to incomplete, inefficient or unsafe patterns.
To build stability through stabilisation exercises. Activating or “switching on” stabilisation muscles is incredibly useful and important when priming for compound or functional movements. This allows us to create more tension and stability starting from our core to our extremities, not only becoming more powerful, but less prone to injury.
Stuck in traffic and late to class? Complete the programmed warm-up prior to starting any of the strength or metcon work. This may mean you start a little later than the others. Do you think it’s worth it? We hope your answer is yes :)