A Better Warm-up

One of my pet peeves (I don't have too many) is watching people hop on a treadmill for 5 - 10 minutes prior to their workout and think they are getting in a good warm-up. Spending 5 - 10 minutes on the treadmill is not a good warm-up. A proper warm-up will increase flexibility and mobility, increase your heart rate, and prepare you for your workout. 5 minutes on a treadmill (or elliptical or stationary bike) will merely accomplish one of those things (increase heart rate.) Your warm-up is the perfect opportunity to work on your mobility, especially in your ankles, hips, thoracic spine, and shoulders. Some joints need to be stabilized, others need to be mobilized. Starting at the bottom and working our way up these are the functions of our major joints:

• Ankle - mobility
• Knee - stability
• Hip - mobility
• Lumbar Spine - stability
• Thoracic Spine - mobility
• Scapula - stability
• Shoulder - mobility

Take a look at that list. If your hips aren't as mobile as they should be your lumbar spine and knees need to pick up some of the slack and become more mobile. This is exactly what leads to knee and low back pain. Most people lack mobility in their thoracic spine. This leads to an unstable scapula, thus shoulder immobility (along with low back pain.) If your left ankle is immobile that could lead to compensation all the way up the chain and lead to right shoulder pain (or even right pinky finger pain!) Go here for more information on the way our joints work together (if anyone is interested.) A proper warm-up will include body weight lunges in all three planes of movement (lateral lunge, back/front lunge, and rotational lunge.) This will increase mobility in your hips and ankles. Add a few quick exercises to mobilize your ankles, thoracic spine, and shoulders and you are ready to go. Here is a great article with videos of 8 mobility exercises to include in your warm-up.

I'll steal Mike Boyle's last line to finish up, "Give these a try. It will take 5-10 minutes and not only will you look better, you'll feel better."