Now THAT’s hot…

Today’s topic, while it appears to be common sense, happens to be a long debated topic amongst strength and conditioning coaches. To warm up or not to warm up, general vs. specific, include stretching – don’t include stretching. Unfortunately, as with most exercise science, you can find research that points you in both directions. My goal for you all is to have a solid understanding of why our warm up protocol is structured the way it is at CrossFit South Bay and be able to add a few tools to take your preparation to the next step.

A warm up is defined generally as “a series of gradually increasing movements preparing an individual for the intensity of physical activity, a joint mobility exercise, stretching and a sport related activity”. In the strength and conditioning world we break this definition down further to general and specific warm up.

General or Specific...

General Warm Up – Designed to bring the bodies muscular and cardiovascular systems to a point of readiness. This can be done by elevating the heart rate to a point physical preparation. These activities usually involve steady state modalities like jumping rope, running, rowing, swimming, cycling etc. Most of us skip the general warm up, how many have said this before, “I don’t feel like running around the block today”.

While we might not feel like it, it serves several benefits:

1. Most metabolic processes are temperature dependent, so as tissue temperatures increase within the body, your circulatory system begins to fuel and prepare muscle tissues for the upcoming activities. This type of warm up also increases the rate at hemoglobin and myoglobin are broken down. This process is key to heightened levels of work capacity.
2. Elevated body temperature also improves nerve impulse travel, improving the rate of muscle contraction/relaxation.
3. This type of warm up also utilizes larger muscle groups, generating a more effective rise in body temperature.

Specific Warm Up – Designed to prepare the muscles and joints for the exact mechanics which will be performed during the workout.  This type of warm up usually mimics the biomechanical properties of the upcoming workout. (I.e. Push ups are a specific warm up for bench press).

Right when you think you have it figured out, “Ill just jump rope and get right down to it”. Specific warm ups have their role too:

How many push ups should I do to PR on today's Bench Press?

1. These light weight sets give the athlete a psychological advantage, serving as “practice” for the upcoming movement. A warm up specific to the exercise has been demonstrated to focus the individual’s attention on what exactly they need to do, leading to a proper mental state.
2. While current research has not been able to demonstrate a valid relationship between warming up and injury prevention, it has been observed by the coaching community that specific movements do result is less missed practice time and performance absenteeism.

I know what you’re thinking… He didn’t say anything about stretching! That’s because recent research has demonstrated static stretching greater than 30 may limit the amount of power a muscle is able to produce. How do we get around this? Movement Prep – all those silly, ninja like movements we do that make us look like we are all suffering from nerve gas exposure… yeah, that’s movement prep. They are movements that functionally prepare the muscles to move under exaggerated ranges of motion. Performing these silly movements actually helps engage important stabilizer muscles that might otherwise be missed by other traditional warm up methods. These movements have also been demonstrated to prevent boredom and burnout, two commonly researched areas demonstrated to lower athletic performance. I don’t know about you but I like pretending I’m a ninja for 5 minutes a day.

Recommendations:

All of us coaching will be structuring the warm ups as follows:

1. General  – rowing, running, jumping
2. Movement Prep – Lateral Lunges, Frankenstein’s, lunge stretch, scorpions (etc, etc)
3. Specific – PVC skill work, light weight lifts

Together these three types of activities (general, specific, movement prep) assist is athletic development in ways that you may not appreciate right now. Doing a workout without a thorough warm up is kind of like trying to drive a race car without performance tires on it.

When you get to the gym, pay attention to the “Warm Up” section from now on, we will be programming our warm-ups specifically around the WOD’s to benefit you and help you reach new levels of performance. And agreed, some of them do look silly, but if performed in a consistent manner these movements will take your workouts to new levels and dramatically reduce the risk of injuries you may suffer.

Workout of the Day 6/10/2010

A. Power Snatch 3-3-3

B. 4 Rounds
3 Rounds of Cindy
300M run

1 Round of Cindy = 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats

* Rest exactly 1 minute between rounds. Rest is mandatory. Score is total time to complete the workout including the rest.