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There
are a variety of ways to warm up, ranging from
an extended cardio session to almost none at all.
Each has its drawbacks and merits. Do whichever
one you feel comfortable with or gives you the
best results. Beginning trainers should stick
with the first and second types of warm-ups while
advanced trainers may wish to try the third type.
1.
Full Warm-Up
- This usually
involves doing some low-intensity cardio
work for five to ten minutes until you
break a sweat.
- It gets
blood flowing and prepares the body for
work to come.
- Some light
stretching follows this then a few light
sets of whatever exercises are going to
be done.
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If you feel you
need this much warm-up, go ahead. Keep in mind,
however, not to do too much or will affect your
energy levels for the actual workout. This type
of warm up is particularly appropriate for novice,
injured, or older trainers, though anyone can
use it.
2.
Light Set Warm-Up
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- This involves
doing a number of progressively heavier
sets (starting very light) on the exercise
you are about to do. This prepares the
specific muscle group for the work sets.
- Don't do
too much here or your work sets will suffer.
- These light
sets are often done before each new exercise,
particularly if you are moving on to a
different bodypart.
- If you
are doing a different exercise for the
same bodypart, a warm-up for that exercise
is usually not necessary, though some
trainers like to do a few quick, light
reps to get a feel for the movement.
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3.
Limited Warm-Up
This
type of warm-up is for advanced trainers only.
Do a set of ten reps with 50% of the weight you're
going to be using for that exercise. That's it.
Your body can be trained to work fine with this
type of limited warm-up.
- If you usually
do an extended warm-up, work down to this level
slowly.
- This method has
the advantage of conserving energy for work
sets.
- For exercises
where you will be using low reps and very heavy
weight (close to your max), you may want to
do a low-rep progressive warm-up. For example,
if you are doing deadlifts with 405 pounds,
do 5 reps with one plate per side, 2 reps with
two plates, 1 rep with three plates, and maybe
1 rep with three and a quarter if you feel you
need it. This type of pyramid warm-up doesn't
exhaust you but still prepares your body for
heavy work. This type of warm-up is the best
for when you going for a one-rep maximum attempt.
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The limited
warm-up is especially appropriate for those
whose jobs involve sudden physical labor
without the time to warm up, e.g. firefighters
(you will never see a firefighter walk around
for ten minutes, stretch out, then do a
few push-ups before running into a burning
building to pull somebody out).
It conditions
your body to be able to handle sudden physical
activity without injury.
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