A warm-up has exactly one job: to get the tissue you are about to load ready to be loaded. Five minutes on a bike does not do that for a hinge pattern.
Most people warm up their heart rate and call it done. Raising your temperature is the easy half; preparing the specific ranges and positions the session demands is the half that protects you.
Specific Beats General
Work through the ranges you are about to use, under a fraction of the load you are about to use, then add a little speed. Eight focused minutes will beat twenty unfocused ones every time.
"Warm up the movement, not just the body."
The last part matters most. A couple of fast, light sets tell your nervous system what is coming, which is why the third working set so often feels better than the first.
A Warm Up That Takes Eight Minutes
- Two minutes raising temperature: bike, row or skipping.
- Four minutes in the ranges you are about to load, unweighted.
- Two minutes of light, fast sets of the first movement.
Our coaches build this into the first eight minutes of every Strength Camp session, but it is worth repeating before any class you turn up late to.
