Four Good Warm-up Strategies

There are lots of ways to warm-up, says a Frisco personal trainer. You could get on a treadmill for 5 to 10 minutes. You can run through an advanced dynamic routine. You could try a corrective warm-up. Or maybe not even warm-up; simply just start the exercise session.

What is the correct way? According to a personal trainer Frisco, the proper way should be to progress into a tailored warm-up program varies depending on your needs.

Either way, according to personal trainers Frisco your warm-up routine really should have:

1.Corrective Exercises - Self-Myofasical Release Exercise on the foam roller, foam ball, massage stick or some other massage equipment. This portion tends to get forgotten because a lot of people complain that “IT HURTS”. This portion is actually positive and an important component of the warm-up routine and can be looked at as a self-massage. Remember you only apply to the tight or limited muscles that are triggering neuromuscular problems (muscle imbalances).

2.Flexibility Exercises - Static for newbies; Active for more advanced athletes; functional for advanced athletes. Static stretching may be applied as a warm-up to train the weaker muscles to create muscle balance. Active stretching is excellent and is a progression from static stretching. Functional stretching, better identified as dynamic stretching, is good for advanced athletes that do not display any postural distortion. More details on each type of exercise can be found in other articles.

3.Core/Muscle Activation Exercises - Exercises or methods which trigger non-active, limited, and weak muscles brought on from very poor lifestyle postural stress, overusing or overloading muscles, repetitive movements, emotional stress (work, personal, etc.), increasing trauma to the muscle, poor technical skill or bio-mechanics, poor core muscles (strength) and not enough neuromuscular control. Muscle activation also prepares the nervous system and the body for the actual exercise session.

4.Conditioning Drills or Exercises - This is a common way to warm-up your muscle groups which can be still good but not effective independently. This portion of the routine can also be optional and often consists of strolling on the treadmill.