You may have noticed there is an abundance of people crawling around at the gym, before workouts, after workouts, and if you go to Cory’s Kettlebell class even during workouts. You may have even said to yourself, I’ll never try that (which would be foolish). “These people” are taking their warm ups and cool downs to a new level, and I’m not saying you should crawl (but you should try it, go to one of Cory’s Kettlebell classes) but there needs to be some kind of routine or ritual of warming up even before the class starts.
Here’s a couple things to try before class since I know everyone shows up at least 10 minutes early. On your drive to the gym start to focus on your breathing, slow things down, take relaxing deep breaths; this is your hour of freedom, time for an awesome workout! Upon arrival to the gym get your stuff put away and make a point to immediately go into some kind of movement, keep it simple you’re just trying to get the suck out of your muscles, air squats are a good place to start. Next maybe role on the ground using the floor, avoid the foam rollers before class as they are an easy way to get sucked into just laying on the ground and doing nothing. After, try a movement like push ups; 20-30 reps will do. If you can’t do pushups this is a perfect time to get some extra practice in as we all know strength is another key to our health. At this point it’s time to really get the legs going and get the rest of the suck out of your muscles by working on a full body movement. Good examples would be the following : bear / panther crawls (eyes up), grabbing a barbell, and or kettlebell. Whatever you decide just start doing it until you break a sweat. My recommendation would be to work on what you suck at most, or whichever one you like most, pick one.
Warming up is no joke, figure out a routine and consistently do it. A good warm up is key to moving well and more results. You will be amazed at how much more awesome your workouts are after the a proper warm up. Don’t expect to feel awesome during a workout if you don’t practice being awesome before a workout (WARM UP and then maybe you can limbo like Shawn).
Written by: Nic Scudamore