SAPT Exercise of the Week: Sample Warm-Up Series

Here's a quick warm-up that won't take more than 5-10 minutes to complete, but will hit practically every joint in the body and prep you to effectively smash some weight around. These are a few of my favorite moves that I've found to personally be some of the best "bang for your buck" drills.

Note: When you perform the prone plank portion, try doing it "RKC style" as demonstrated in the video below. It really does make a big difference in terms of how much benefit you receive from the seemingly simple exercise.

While, yes, warming up can be an annoyance for some people, I find three reasons that simply won't allow me to skip it before my own training sessions:

1) It gives me a "feel" for how my body and nervous system and faring during a particular day. As I run through the various movement patterns, I have a chance to sense what areas may be sore/testy, and also if I'm feeling "on" or not. This can then help me further autoregulate my training session and decide how hard I'll push it based off what my body is telling me.

This takes some experience and practice, yes. But the rewards can't be overstated.

2) Warming up is going to help you run faster, move more weight, and reduce the likelihood of injury during your training session. 'Nuff said there.

3) It gives me a chance to "bridge the gap" between the workday and my training session. During the warmup I have a chance to clear my mind and leave any troubles/worries at the front door, so to speak. Then, by the time I've moved on to the main lifts for the day, I have all my focus in check.

While some of the drills in the video above may be old news to many of you, I'm still shocked to find how many people tend to spin their wheels when it comes to preparing for their training session. Hopefully some of you can glean a few things from the video and add them into your own repertoire.