Rev It Up And Go: How to Warm Up for a Workout

By Paul Chek, HHP, NMT
Founder, C.H.E.K. Institute

The warm-up is an accepted part of life in the modern world. You get in your car and, you should warm it up to prevent accelerated wear and breakdown. Women warm up their curling irons and cooks warm up their ovens. Even an intimate evening with your spouse begins with a warm-up!

Fact is, people seem to know a lot more about warming up cars, stoves and other gadgets than they do about exercise. What does a proper warm-up do for your body?

• Lubricates the joints.
• Warms the connective tissues.
• Activate the nervous system.
• Charges the circulatory system.
• Excites the hormonal system.

Many exercise enthusiasts, and even personal trainers, commonly assume that riding a bicycle or using a treadmill, step mill, or any number of aerobic modalities serve to warm the body for resistance training. This is a mistake!

Resistance training induces specific stress to the muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints of the arms, legs and/or involved spinal structures. The loads are often high, requiring significant activation by the nervous system. Although aerobic exercise activates the cardiovascular system and warms the body, this type of warm-up is only specific to the working joints.

This is a very important consideration when you're preparing to participate in resistance training or circuit-training programs that incorporate resistance-training exercises that stress the body in patterns very different than typical cardio-type warm-ups.

To prove my point, consider using a bike or treadmill for 10 minutes in preparation to lift weights. You step off the bike and your trainer walks you straight to the Lat Pull Down machine, selecting the same weight you successfully lifted in your last training session. When you reach for the bar, consider that your arms and all the related joints and connective tissues were not activated in anything close to the same movement pattern during your warm-up.

Consider that your warm-up was performed at an intensity level of 30 percent or less, and you are about to lift at an intensity level of 70-85 percent (in most cases), using tissues that are totally unprepared, not to mention that the nervous system is about to experience a massive increase in demand!

Remember The SAID Principle

The anagram SAID stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. This principle tells us we must prepare and train the body in accordance with the demands at hand. Therefore, if we apply the SAID principle to your warm-up, the following considerations should be made, depending on what follows, whether it's aerobic exercise or weight training.

If your primary activity level will be aerobic, which is low intensity relative to lifting weights, your warm-up should require that you reproduce all movement patterns to be used at 50-75 percent of the predicted training intensity. For example, if you are about to do a 5- or 10K run at a pace of 6 minutes per mile, your warm-up should consist of easy running, progressing from 9 to 7.5 minutes per mile.

The warm-up should be long enough to achieve freedom of movement in all working joints and tissues. The presence of sweat indicates activation of the body's cooling system, which ensures that your working tissues are now warm.

For weight training, the same principle applies. For each multi-joint exercise to be performed (such as the lat pull down or squat), progress from 50-75 percent of your training intensity in warm-up sets. The higher the training load, the greater the number of warm-up sets needed to ensure injury prevention.

A typical approach to training the squat with sets at 80 percent (an 8-rep set) or 100 Kg. would be to squat 10-12 reps with 50 Kg., followed by 5-8 reps with 70 Kg. and finally 4 reps with 90 Kg. This progression allows for a complete warm-up of the nervous system, muscles, joints and all related tissues in the exact pattern of movement to be trained. This form of warm-up also facilitates an optimal hormonal profile for the activity at hand, while cardiovascular warm-ups do not have the same beneficial effect.

Remember, a good warm-up is not only essential to a longer-lasting engine, better looking hair, finer tasting food and greater intimacy with your spouse. It's a keystone to optimal performance and injury prevention with any and all forms of exercise!

For more information on safe and effective resistance training, see Paul Chek's Gym Instructor Series Video set.

Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner and certified Neuromuscular Therapist, is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in Vista, Calif. He is also sought-after consultant to sporting organizations, his services have benefited numerous professional sports teams, athletes and individuals seeking optimal health worldwide.

Paul has produced more than 60 videos, 17 correspondence courses and is the author of several books, audio programs and articles. For more information on Paul's popular "You Are What You Eat" audio/workbook program, or for any of his other health/exercise courses, videos and books, call 800/552-8789, 800/552-8789 (New Zealand or Australia), 44 (0)1273-856-860 (Great Britain) or visit online at the CHEK Institute Web site. Please feel free to request a catalog of CHEK Institute products.

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