I once thought that if I run or did any type of cardio before any of my trainings, I was warming up correctly. Truth is many of us think this. But this is wrong. Warmups don’t work that way. A correct warm up is specifically designed for the training that you will do. There’s no universal warm up that will be good for everything, because depending on which muscle groups you will be working on during your training, you will have to incorporate in your warmup exercises that will target specifically those muscles you want to train. You have to prepare your body for the workout, but you have to prepare it correctly.
Same thing applies with cool down. Finishing a workout the proper way is as important as preparing for it. When you’re working out you contract your muscles, so if you don’t stretch them after your workout you risk serious chances of injury, you will alter the results of your trainings in a negative way (recovery wise), and most importantly, your muscles will hurt you a lot later when you’re no longer warm. There’s also no universal cool down, this will depend on the training you did.
My Warm Up And Cool Down Routines
When I train pole, handstands or calisthenics I use the same warm up. In all of them I use almost the same muscles during my training, mostly upper body, but also a lot of core, legs and glutes. Therefore, I need to target the same muscles during the warmup. I also use this warm up before a swimming training or any upper body focused training. When I train HIITs or any other functional workouts I also use this warm up but I cut it by half. This warmup is about 25 minutes long and you can watch it here on my Youtube Channel https://youtu.be/Omw6uTDSiIk. The cool down I use for these trainings targets the stretching of the specific muscles I just worked on, so I target stretching mostly upper body and little of legs, back and glutes. You can watch it here on my Youtube Channel https://youtu.be/yZN1DaqSfx0. The cool down is about 15 minutes long.
When I train backbends, I use a specific warm up with exercises that will mostly target my abs (core), my legs, my glutes, my shoulders and my arms. If you run for 15-20 min before a backbend training, you will be warm in your body but the specific muscles that you need warm to be able to train backbends obtaining good range of motion while keeping it safe, won’t. Don’t make this mistake, you risk serious chances of injuries. You need to target and prepare the muscles you’ll be working on later, you shouldn’t just jump into a workout without a proper warm up and you shouldn’t just do whatever you think will get you warm, think this through, it’s very important to understand this. I made this mistake once and I learned the hard way so I urge not to do it. If you train backbends then you need to be very careful about safety, you need to understand how backbends work and how to activate and prepare your body correctly for them. The warmup I use is about 15 minutes long and will soon be available on my E-Programs. The cool down I use after backbend training targets mostly my abs and glutes, my core, and a little of my arms and legs. After a backbend session it’s extremely important to strengthen the core and balance the work we just did with our backs, abs and core exercises are the way to do it. Finishing a backbend training correctly and safely is just as important as the other parts of the training. You want to leave happy and relieved after a workout, not in pain, so make sure you’re taking care of these things. I also add in the cool down a little arm and shoulder stretching (upper back). The cool down I use is about 15 minutes long and will also be available soon on my E-Programs.
When I train leg flexibility, I use another specific warm up that will mostly target my legs, my glutes and my core through active flexibility exercises. Same rule applies here, if you run for 15-20 min before a leg flexibility training you will be warm in your body but the specific muscles that you need warm to be able to train leg flexibility obtaining good range of motion while keeping it safe, won’t. Again, don’t make this mistake. The warmup I use is about 15 minutes long and will also be available soon on my E-Programs.
When I train gymnastics, I use a specific warm up that will target my whole body (shoulders, arms, back, core, glutes, legs, etc.). This warmup is about 25 minutes long. For the cool down I use the same as I use after a pole workout.
You get the idea.
Most Important Things To Identify:
- Specific discipline we will train
- Muscles that will be required to work and activate during the training
- Exercises that will activate and prepare our bodies safely and correctly for the training
- Exercises that will stretch our bodies safely and correctly after the training
The warmup needs to include controlled, strong and exaggerated movements of the joints, tendons and muscles. It should accelerate your heartbeat. In the cool down you need to stretch those joints, tendons and muscles, you want to relax and loosen up your body, it should slow down your heartbeat.
So please, remember, it’s very important no matter what training we do, to do a proper warm up, to prepare our bodies correctly for a safe training. And then, to do a proper cool down that will ensure our bodies are safe after the training. This way we can do everything that is in our hands training-wise, to guarantee we stay as most pain free as possible, recovering as better as possible for the next training and being able to perform on our 100% as we want on each training (of course it’s impossible to actually do your 100% on every training, sometimes you’ll be tired and perform really bad and other days you will be amazing but as long as you always give your 100% its enough). Other ways to ensure our performance: water, healthy food, rest, etc.
Hope this helps you with your workouts and understanding more how everything works. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments, I would love to read them.
Train safe and take care of your bodies and minds!
Eileen
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