Booting Up Your Quick Workout -

Ryan Carver

December 4, 2017

If your computer needs to boot-up before it’s work begins how much MORE important is it for you (non-machine) to warm-up/boot-up for your workout? It’s crucial, even if it’s a quick workout you still need to prepare your heart, lungs, joints, and muscles for the work they are about to do.

Warming-up before exercise

You’ve seen those people warming up. You know who I’m talking about. These are the people at the gym, they’re reading a magazine while foam rolling, or checking Facebook while doing some sort of stretch, or talking on the phone or watching TV while meandering on a treadmill.

I know what you’re thinking. Warming-up takes too long.

Generally, I’d agree with you that most often people spend far too much time ‘warming-up’ than actually doing any work. A warm-up is more than just elevating your heart rate. Yes, a warm-up does that, but it also gets you moving in the ways and patterns you’ll be doing in your actual workout.

If you’re tight, or have aches or pains, this is the time to start lubricating those joints and muscles so you can do the movements without pulling something or getting hurt because you don’t want to be “that guy/girl”.

Ideally warming up should only take 5-10 mins and should accomplish the following things:

Elevate your heart rate
Mobilize your joints (think about oiling the machine)
Activate/’turn-on’ your muscles you’ll be using
Practice the movements you’ll be doing later
Prepare the mind to be engaged

Quick Workout Dynamic Warm-up

That is all well and fine, but sometimes you’ve only got 15 mins or less and you know that ‘movement is medicine’ and ‘something is better than nothing’. If you are always ‘stuck’ at doing a 10 min warm-up you will probably decide it isn’t worth exercising that day.

An ‘ideal’ warm-up should include those 5 things, but getting some to most of those will do in a pinch.

Below is a quick sequence you can use when you don’t have a lot of time and can only get in a quick workout. This dynamic warm-up only takes about 1 minute and covers most “hot” or “trouble” spots: hamstrings, calfs, hips/glutes, groin/inner thigh, hip flexors, upper back, and shoulders.