Dynamic Warm-up or Movement Prep for Strength Training
Ken Dobberpuhl, CPT, MAT
Most fitness enthusiasts, surfers, and many athletes miss the mark when it comes to “warming-up”. While it is absolutely true that one of the objectives of a good warm-up is to raise the body temperature, specificity in regard to the upcoming activity is critical.
It is not uncommon in a gym setting to see people walk over to the treadmill, elliptical, or bike and read a magazine while going through the motions on said equipment. There are those that are very “serious” and they start off with a vengeance with a little ramp up and then hit it full blast for 5-15 minutes prior to strength training.
I would like to offer a different perspective that should enhance your strength training by actually “preparing” your body to do strength work. Those of you that have been strength training with me know that we do a number of body weight movements that fire the core musculature, and the big muscles of the lower and upper extremities. This is the reason I actually prefer the term “movement prep” borrowed from Mark Verstegan. It embodies what we are actually trying to do. If we are going to be doing some squatting then integrating some quick body weight squats 15-25 makes for a movement specific preparation. The muscles aren’t all that are getting activated here, your nervous system is starting to wake-up to what is coming up. Runners, cyclists and swimmers for example generally “warm-up by doing their sport at various level of intensity that is clearly related to the upcoming demand. So why is it that when most of us go to the gym we do totally unrelated warm-up exercises? robably just simple herd mentality.
One other “warm-up” mistake that I see frequently is doing long hold stretches. These are best done after you have trained when the muscles are warm (more elastic). We do dynamic stretching during movement prep but the stretches are only held for 3-5 seconds. You just want to wake up the muscle and nervous system if you hold the stretch for long counts you reduce the muscles ability to fire quickly ( Refer to the article describing the stretch reflex). This can be a disaster for sprinters or jumpers that need that shortened state in the muscle to produce power. I’ll often see surfers doing beautiful yoga poses before going into the water, same issue as mentioned. Doing a quick resistance band pushing/pulling sequence and body weight squats/lunges would be far more beneficial to activate the shoulders and legs. After your session then certainly poses that stretch the shoulders, back, and legs are very appropriate.
So you can see that “movement prep” should ideally mimic closely the upcoming strength work. The resistance needs to be light to moderate so that you can perform the movement in an easy fluid manner. If you remember back to the article on training the “Four Pillars on Human Movement,” you can not go wrong if you do some level changes (squats/lunges), pushing and pulling, and rotation.
Athletic warm-ups should also include the components of balance, and agility. These might include, skipping, single leg hops, speed ladder drills, and cone drills to prepare the athlete for sudden stops and changes in direction. I actually like to use these drills with “linear athletes” (runners, cyclists, swimmers etc.) to get them moving in different planes of motion and help prevent overuse injuries.
So next time you head into the gym for some strength training try doing some standing cable chopping patterns (diagonal across the body) from both sides, then do 15-25 body weight squats (parallel) then go into 15-25 lunges alternating steps (keep the back straight, no forward leaning). Then do the following dynamic stretches (3-5 second holds (1) lunge to elbow, (2) Inchworms, (3) Crab walks or Sumo shuffle, (4) Toe Touches, and (5) kneeling lunge and twist.
If you don’t know these grab someone from my core class, vintage surfers class or strength training classes and have them show you this routine. Remember then to think “movement prep” focusing on movements that will be coming up during strength training and your performance should be much improved.
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