Basic/ Intermediate Warm-Up

Most of us know that a good workout should be preceded by a thorough warm-up.

But what’s a good warm-up?

Most folks these days (if they bother to warm up) tend to just head on over to a Cardio Machine – Treadmill, Static Bike, Rower, Cross Trainer, etc… – and spend 5-10 minutes  on there and that’s their warm-up complete.

Although better than no warm up at all, Cardio Machines lack several vital components when compared to an effective warm-up.

The idea of a warm-up is to prepare the body for the task (in this case a workout) it’s about to perform and to do this most effectively, the warm-up must be specific to the movement patterns you’re going to perform during your workout.

There’s no point just jumping on a Static Bike for 5-10 minutes if you’re about to do a heavy Chest Workout for instance.

We have to look at the type of movements and the muscle groups involved and then pretty much replicate them during the warmup.

They don’t always have to be exact, but the target movements and muscles should be used.

Due to this fact, today I decided to show you guys a Basic/Intermediate Dynamic warm-up I use with my clients when I first introduce them to Kettlebell and/or Circuit Training.

It’s a great warm-up that you can use to warm up every muscle in the body before your whole body workouts.

It’s specific to the types of movements and the muscles that will be used in your workout – It will increase heart rate, circulation and nutrient supply to the working muscles – It will increase both flexibility and mobility in all major muscles and joints about to be used – It will prepare you both physically and mentally for your workout due to it’s specificity.

Check out the warm up below

So this warm-up should take around 10 minutes or so to complete once you’ve mastered each movement and no longer have to think about how each one is performed.

The movements/exercises include the following:

Perform 10 repetitions of each (both sides where applicable)…

• Neck Circles
• Shoulder Girdle Rolls – Backwards & Forwards
• Single Arm Circles – Left & Right – Backwards & Forwards
• Double Arm Circles – Backwards & Forwards
• Side Bends
• Torso Rotations – Hips Fixed
• Torso Rotations with Pivot
• Hips – Tip & Push Throughs
• Hip – Inside Out
• Hip – Outside In
• Prone – Chest Touches
• Prone – Single Arm Retractions
• Press Up to Full Body T
• Mountain Climbers
• Groiners
• Squat Thrusts
• Froggers
• Reverse Lunge with Knee Drive

As always, if you’re new to exercise or you’ve had significant time off I recommend that you consult with your GP before starting any new exercise programme just to ensure all is well with your health and that there isn’t anything going on that may affect the type of exercise you should partake in.

If you have any questions or you find that you struggle with some of the exercises in this warm-up, let me know and I’ll do my best to help improve your execution and technique.

In health and performance,