7 versatile quick warm-up exercises you can do before any workout

Most people who visit gyms for the first time (and sometimes experienced athletes) consider the warm-up to be nonsense, not worth attention. Without warming up the muscles, they immediately run to free exercise machines and start active training. And this happens until the cold ligaments break from overstrain, or the athlete realizes how useful a warm-up really is.

The content of the article:

1. What is a pre-workout warm-up for?
2. Videos of the best warm-up exercises
3. Exercises and complexes for home warm-up

Briefly about the main thing: why do you need a warm-up before training at home or in the gym?

The theater, as you know, begins with a coat rack, and each workout begins with a warm-up.

True, only 5% of all “body sculptors” who come to the gym remember about it. The percentage of professional athletes will be much higher (they know the secret of effective training).

The need to warm up is an axiom. It is needed for …

• Stretching and warming up muscles before solid loads (approx. – as an intensive muscle training!).
• To protect muscles, body ligaments and joints from injury.
• To increase blood flow to the muscles.
• To improve the efficiency of your workout.
• To speed up metabolic processes.
• For the right mindset for training.

That is, as you can see, there are enough reasons to warm up.

Motivation is another matter.

If it is more important for you to wander around the gym, say hello to friends and beautifully saddle 3-4 simulators per evening in order to “be in trend”, no one can forbid you to do this.

But if you really want to achieve certain results, and the gym is not a tribute to fashion for you, then this article will be useful to you.

Warm-up types – what to keep in mind when warming up before a workout?

For training warm-ups, there is conditional classification:

• General warm-up. It is necessary for the functional preparation of your body for training: the muscles are supplied with oxygen and your body temperature rises, metabolism is quickly activated. Takes 10-15 minutes. Loads: exercises for various muscles of the legs / arms, jumping rope, rotation of the body and limbs (approx. – increasing the flexibility of the joints), light jogging.
• Special warm-up. This is, in a way, an imitation of the work with the apparatus, which the athlete has to do. A warm-up is necessary so that the body remembers the exercise technique. Requires 10-12 reps before each strength workout.
• Hitch. It is performed after training in order to transfer the body from a working state to a calm one. Essential to remove lactic acid from muscles, to return to normal readings of heart rate, blood flow and body temperature. Loads: light running, which turns into walking, as well as smooth stretching. Takes 5-10 minutes.
• Stretching. The most popular type of warm-up, which can be divided into static stretching (fixing the limbs in a chosen position), ballistic (chaotic and fast movements) and dynamic (slow ordered movements).

Stretching should only be started after a warm-up warm-up. Cold stretching increases the risk of injury.

Stretching should not be ignored for the same reasons.

Simple and effective home stretching exercises

Videos of the best warm-up exercises:

The Most Effective Pre-Workout Warm-Up Exercises – How To Do It

• Cardio. For 5-7 minutes, we perform a light jog, choosing an exercise bike, free treadmill or other cardio simulator for the exercise. Maintain an exceptionally moderate pace and work hard to maintain a maximum heart rate of 120 bpm. In this exercise, you should only sweat a little, and not get tired of a workout that has not yet begun.
• Lunges while raising the arms. Being in the starting position “standing”, we cross our arms at the level of the navel and tighten the muscles of the arms and our press. When you bend your ring finger with your little finger and leave the other fingers extended, your arm muscles tighten more. We take a deep breath and with the right foot forward one step, not forgetting to simultaneously spread our arms to the sides. It is important to keep the abdominal muscles as well as the arm muscles in sufficient tension. Further, on exhalation, we return to the starting position. Squat as deep as possible! Norm: 3 sets of 13-15 times.
• Side lunges. As in the exercise above, the starting position is “standing”. We direct the middle one with the index finger down, and collect the rest inside the right one. Take a deep breath – and step to the left, with straight arms moving in the same direction, and leaving the right leg straight. Then, on exhalation, we return to the starting position and, changing the leg, repeat. The depth of the squat is as deep as possible. Norm: 3 sets of 13-15 repetitions.
• Leaning forward. In the “standing” position, inhale deeply and take 1 step forward with a simultaneous tilt, a straight back and straight arms. On exhalation, we return to our starting position, change the leg and repeat again. Norm: 3 sets of 13-15 repetitions.
• Forward lunges. An effective warm-up for the calf muscles, as well as the thighs and tendons under the knees. From the “standing” position (approx. – we put our feet shoulder-width apart, traditionally) we slowly go down, trying not to bend our legs, and continue to move with the help of our palms. Next, we pull up our left leg and, having carried out a deep lunge, raise our left hand up. We return to our starting position (if possible) also on straight legs. Norm: 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
• For pectoral muscles and stretching the spine. In the “lying” position on the stomach, we place our arms at shoulder level. Slowly turning the left thigh, we throw our left leg onto an exceptionally straight right. Raise your hand and take it back a little. We repeat the same for the other side. Norm: 2 sets of 5-7 repetitions.
• For glutes, quads and flexors. From the “standing” position (approx. – feet shoulder-width apart) pull the left knee to the chest. We lower and tighten the right one. Next, we raise our right hand up, grabbing our left foot with our left and pulling it to our buttocks so that the position of the hips remains unchanged (the hips do not rise or fall!). Repeat for the other side. Norm: 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

A set of exercises in the gym for girls – a ready-made fitness program for your workouts

Summing up

Warm up before workout (whoever said otherwise) required! We do not start exercising while the muscles are “cold” – we warm them up for 10-15 minutes.

Find the exercises that work best for you and incorporate them into your own warm-up program that suits your workout goals. Introduce new exercises periodically.

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