Are your warm-ups too short? How long should you warm up before working out?
The online fitness space has a knack for overcomplicating every aspect of a gym routine. Are you jogging before your workout? Stair climbing? Walking uphill?
What about dynamic or static stretches? Foam rolling? Mobility routines?
If you’re not a
Fitness professional
Pro athlete
Someone with ample time at the gym
Or just someone who enjoys a longer warm up
Don’t over complicate things!
Warm ups are intended to do just that - increase your body’s core temperature. Additionally, they also aim to improve neuromuscular coordination, reduce the risk of injury, and get your head in the game (🦁🏀)!
You have likely been told that it’s important to warm up primarily to increase your body temperature, but I’d argue that the neurological and psychological benefits of warming up are more important!
An allocated warm up period gives you the time to shift your mental focus from whatever was going on before (school, work, errands, etc.) to what you’re about to do. You get a moment to tune into your body and build self-awareness to how you’re feeling in that moment.
Is something extra stiff that day? Did you just wake up and you’re still groggy? Are you getting ready for some heavy lifts that day? Maybe you’re in a rush or you know you have all of the time in the world that day.
All of these are important to consider during your warm up period.
Your warm up will be individual to your training goals, any rehab work you’re doing, how you’re feeling, what equipment you have available, and how much time you can dedicate.
Additionally, a warm up can be as simple as 1 minute of jacking jacks or it can involve gentle aerobic activity follow by mobility work.
But there are some general rules you can follow!
You should have a
GENERAL warm up (~5 to 10 min)
and a
SPECIFIC warm up (~10 mins)
General Warm-up
The purpose is to increase: your body temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate.
Light to moderate aerobic exercise such as: walking uphill, jogging, bike, rower, jumping jacks, skipping, dancing
5 to 10 minutes is generally recommended, but if you’re tight on time, try to do 2-3 minutes.
Specific Warm-up
The purpose here is to practice the movement patterns you’re about to execute and “activate” muscles.
This can vary completely, but if you’re about to do heavy barbell squats, you can start with bodyweight squats and progress to the bar and then work up to your working weight that day. This can be applied to any lifts you’re starting your workout with.
If you’re feeling stiff or need extra time to get your range of motion going, you can incorporate mobility drills or foam rolling before you practice your lifts/movements.
8-12 minutes is recommended.
Bonus: Prime your nervous system!
If you’re doing high intensity work and/or heavy lifts, finish your warm up with a few sets of plyometric work.
This can include short sprints, jumping, hopping, medicine ball throws.
Aim for 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 5 reps.
“This means I have to do a 10 to 20 minute warm up before I even work out!?”
Yes and no. There is an “optimal” way to program, but ultimately, the best warm up is the one you’re most likely to do.
If you are just working out for general health and fitness, and you don’t have any specific goals, doing 3-5 minutes on a cardio machine is a great option!
However, if you do have specific performance goals, or you are focused on rehabbing, you may want to ensure your warm up is suitable to you and your needs!
Foam Rolling & Stretching
A 2024 meta analysis found that incorporating foam rolling or stretching into a warm up didn’t make a significant difference when analyzing its affects on range of motion, passive peak torque increases*, or stiffness reductions (PMID: 38244921). Unless your goal is to increase flexibility and/or your specific warm ups pertain to gymnastics (or similar exercise), you can leave out any static stretching (stretches that you hold). Both foam rolling and static stretching are optimal at the end of your workout during the cool down, or during an active recovery day.
* your muscle can now handle more force while being stretched without you doing anything.
Still unsure how to structure your warm ups?
If you want to make sure your warm ups and workouts are suited to you and your needs, consider working with me 1-1.
I create 100% customized workout plans that take into account all of the variables discussed.
Some of my clients have very short warm ups for their home workouts, and others have longer warmups that prep them for olympic lifting.
Take the guesswork and mental load out of trying to formulate your workouts - book a free consultation today to see if we would be a great match to work together!