I wanted to dedicate today's post to one commonly overlooked aspect of training. The warm up is an extremely important aspect of your training and if you're not warming up properly, I"m sorry to say that you are not getting the most out of your workouts. I like to think of warming up as exercise foreplay. LOL! You don't really want to just jump right into your routine because the body is not yet properly prepared.
Consider the warm up as the pace-setter for your exercise routine. A good warm-up is going to ensure that the muscles are awake, the blood is flowing, and the heart is pumping. If you watch any professional athlete, the warm up is one of the biggest and most crucial aspects of their training. You will never see an olympic sprinter just wake up, head to the track, and attempt to sprint at maximum speed. His body will be sluggish and his reactions will be slow.
So why do most people get to the gym and fail to do a proper warm up? Well I guess there are a number of reasons for this, but for you reading this right now, you will have no more excuses. A proper warm up will give you the edge on everyone else. Guaranteed! Think of your body and your muscles like a rubber-band, when a rubber-band is cold it doesn't have much stretch, and less stretch produces less force. Now if you warm the rubber-band up a little bit you will find that it stretches further and snaps back with greater force. Now although I am using a rubber-band as an example, I am not implying that you stretch before you workout. In fact, static stretching, which is stretching a muscle to a point of pain and holding it, can actually inhibit your performance. So NEVER, NEVER, NEVER static stretch before you train, unless static stretching is specific to your sport. I'll get into stretching in my next post, so I'll focus on the warm up for now.
What is a proper warm up?
So the great thing about a warm up, is there are so many different options to get the blood flowing. Make sure that your warm-up involves the whole body and incorporates full body movements. It doesn't take much to get the blood flowing and a proper warm up should not be done to the point of exhaustion. A proper warm up, will get your heart pumping, the blood flowing and you may begin to break a little sweat. The minute you begin to sweat, your body has activated its cooling mechanisms. This means you're warm. keep the sweat going for about a minute and you are ready to go. Your warm up should last anywhere from 5-10 minutes, so it doesn't take too long. Believe me this 5-10 minute session will really make a difference.
What are some examples of a good warm up?
Treadmill Jog
Treadmill Incline walk
elliptical
Jump rope
Body weight squats
push-ups
sit-ups
pull-ups
bear crawls
mountain climbers
burpies
Jumping Jacks
The list goes on....
Literally any full body movement can be used to warm up, and you can mix and match any of these movements to help get the blood flowing.
Why Warm up?
Well think about it this way. You've probably been at work all day sitting at a desk with your body in the same cramped position. Your body is literally stiff and the muscles have no blood flow. The warm up also indirectly stretches the muscles in a safe effective way and prepares you for your routine. Use the warm up to wake your mind and body. Getting the heart pumping will let your body know, "Its time for exercise!"
Warming up will not only improve your overall performance, it was one of the biggest contributing factors to injury prevention. Stiff cold muscles are much more prone, to pulling, tearing, and training. Something as simple as 5 minutes can make a huge difference in your overall health and longevity. Be smart and take the time to do it. 5 minutes can save you weeks or even months of injury recuperation. So basically what I am saying is you are an idiot if you don't warm up! LOL! J/K. Or am I?
But seriously warming up does a lot more for your health than you can imagine. I made leaps and bounds in my physic and in my overall performance when I made the simple change of adding a warm up to my routine. DO it!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
To My Followers
This Blog is dedicated to my followers and to those of you who questioned my absence. I have recently been bombarded with life and I must admit I have lost some inspiration. On that note, I am making an attempt to redeem myself and post as often as possible. I have realized that my mind has wondered into autopilot, and this is my effort to jump into the COCKpit and take control!
Sleepy Time
I have recently realized that I have been missing one major component in my life, and it has affected me tremendously. That component is SLEEP! Since I began this grueling work schedule, I have found myself dramatically cutting into my sleepy time. In the past month I have watched my energy levels fall, my focus diminish, and my appetite spiral out of control. How could this be?
One thing I've noticed for sure, is that when you are tired, the body wants to do nothing else but sleep. So what do we do when we can't sleep and we have to perform? Well, most of us just slam in the caffeine. Its no wonder there's a Starbucks on every corner, and there are tons of energy drinks out on the market. People everywhere are trying to keep themselves awake, just so they can make it through the day. The problem with this is the inevitable compounding affect on your health! Its no wonder you exercise for two hours every day but the results just don't come. Ask yourself......."Am I getting enough sleep?" I can guarantee you almost everyone's answer to this will be no.
So What happens when we don't get enough sleep?
The affects on the body are absolutely horrendous! The body is in a constant state of fatigue, leaving your brain foggy and your body half rested. When the body and brain don't get enough sleep, you begin to produce stress hormones which increase your appetite and increase your susceptibility to storing fat. So what does this mean? You eat more and you store more fat. Even if you are working out, this will do very little, and may in fact potentially make things worse. Exercise is stress on the body, so putting stress on the body and not giving it enough rest can wear you down.
So What's the cure?
Sleep. LOL! Try to get to bed early. Think about it this way.... If you go to bed an hour earlier every day, that's five extra hours of sleep you gain per work week. Thats almost a whole nights sleep. If you get to bed an hour and a half earlier every day you gain an extra 7 1/2 hours of sleep per work week. Believe me, this makes a huge difference! Use the weekends to recharge your battery and sleep for as long as you need to. DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR SLEEP! Your success depends on it. I have a saying.... "Everything goes out the window once you get tired." Believe me this is true. You can have all the drive, will, focus, ambition and intelligence in the world; once you become tired, all of those things will not matter. You will solely be focusing on the fact that you are so tired. Drinking coffee only masks the symptoms and puts you into overdrive. Listen to your body, and give it the rest it deserves.
How much sleep should you get?
I guess everyone has their opinion on this and as we all know, experts say at least 8 hours. But in my opinion, and from what I have experienced, I say sleep as long as you need to. Some days you may need more than others depending on your activity levels, so take as much rest as you need, to feel revived. Experiment and see how much you need to function at optimal levels. Everyone is different so I don't really believe in one sleep prescription.
Use this next week as an experiment, and try to get to to bed a little earlier. Start with a half hour each day and record how you feel. Good luck!
Sleepy Time
I have recently realized that I have been missing one major component in my life, and it has affected me tremendously. That component is SLEEP! Since I began this grueling work schedule, I have found myself dramatically cutting into my sleepy time. In the past month I have watched my energy levels fall, my focus diminish, and my appetite spiral out of control. How could this be?
One thing I've noticed for sure, is that when you are tired, the body wants to do nothing else but sleep. So what do we do when we can't sleep and we have to perform? Well, most of us just slam in the caffeine. Its no wonder there's a Starbucks on every corner, and there are tons of energy drinks out on the market. People everywhere are trying to keep themselves awake, just so they can make it through the day. The problem with this is the inevitable compounding affect on your health! Its no wonder you exercise for two hours every day but the results just don't come. Ask yourself......."Am I getting enough sleep?" I can guarantee you almost everyone's answer to this will be no.
So What happens when we don't get enough sleep?
The affects on the body are absolutely horrendous! The body is in a constant state of fatigue, leaving your brain foggy and your body half rested. When the body and brain don't get enough sleep, you begin to produce stress hormones which increase your appetite and increase your susceptibility to storing fat. So what does this mean? You eat more and you store more fat. Even if you are working out, this will do very little, and may in fact potentially make things worse. Exercise is stress on the body, so putting stress on the body and not giving it enough rest can wear you down.
So What's the cure?
Sleep. LOL! Try to get to bed early. Think about it this way.... If you go to bed an hour earlier every day, that's five extra hours of sleep you gain per work week. Thats almost a whole nights sleep. If you get to bed an hour and a half earlier every day you gain an extra 7 1/2 hours of sleep per work week. Believe me, this makes a huge difference! Use the weekends to recharge your battery and sleep for as long as you need to. DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR SLEEP! Your success depends on it. I have a saying.... "Everything goes out the window once you get tired." Believe me this is true. You can have all the drive, will, focus, ambition and intelligence in the world; once you become tired, all of those things will not matter. You will solely be focusing on the fact that you are so tired. Drinking coffee only masks the symptoms and puts you into overdrive. Listen to your body, and give it the rest it deserves.
How much sleep should you get?
I guess everyone has their opinion on this and as we all know, experts say at least 8 hours. But in my opinion, and from what I have experienced, I say sleep as long as you need to. Some days you may need more than others depending on your activity levels, so take as much rest as you need, to feel revived. Experiment and see how much you need to function at optimal levels. Everyone is different so I don't really believe in one sleep prescription.
Use this next week as an experiment, and try to get to to bed a little earlier. Start with a half hour each day and record how you feel. Good luck!
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