Warm Ups and Weight Lifting

 

Have you ever been to a gym and seen some novice go right up to the squat rack, load the bar with a huge amount of weight and then squirm under it all and try to lift it off the pins? You can already imagine what will happen if he manages to unrack it, and it's no exaggeration to say that most injuries that are sustained while lifting weights occur due to attempting to lift too heavy a set of weights without warming up for it adequately. In today's article we will take a close look at warm ups and weight lifting, why it's so important to do so, and how to go about it.

When you are about to go for a race or practice any kind of sport you will often seek to warm up your body. Gone are the days when people believed that all that was required was static stretches; today people understand that you need to primarily warm up your body and do so in a literal manner, you need to get your blood flowing to your muscles and heat your system up so that your muscles, joints and ligaments are prepared to undergo stress and do so at optimal performance levels.

The same is true for weight lifting. When you hit the gym you will no doubt be cold, stiff, and your muscles will not be prepared for lifting weight. There are two basic ways to warm up, and a good trainee will do some of both. The first thing to keep in mind is that you want to warm up your whole body but especially the part of your body that will be exercising, so it is important to do things that target it.

The first kind of warm up is general cardio. You want to do some bike cycling or rowing so as to get your heart beating and your temperature up, but don't do so much or at an intensity that will tire you out and effect your actual workout.

The second kind of warm up is practicing the lifts at lighter weights. For example, when squatting, you should start with a couple of sets with just the bar, and then work your way up to your work set in increments of 25%. If you are squatting 100lbs, you should do the bar twice, then load 25lbs, then 50lbs, then 75lbs and finally do three sets of your work set.

 

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