Warming Up Increase Flexibility

Warming Up Increase Flexibility:

Lubricating the Joints:

So the same lifter decides to hit the treadmill for 3 minutes to get the blood and oxygen pumping into their legs. When he gets back to the squat rack with his warm-up weight, he finds himself much more flexible.  After twelve warm-up reps his knees are completely lubricated as well, and there is no cracking or popping to be heard.

Getting Into the Groove:

Getting into the groove for an exercise is also important. Take as many sets as you need until the form for an exercise feels natural. Once all the kinks are worked out, a proper warm up has been completed. So, let's get started!

An Injured Bodybuilder Can't Gain Mass!

An injury is the last thing any bodybuilder wants. You can miss a meal here and there if you absolutely must, you can skip the last 5 minutes of your cardio session if you need to be somewhere, but if you skip your warm-up and end up with a muscle pull, you're not gaining optimally for the next month or so.

Warming up is injury-preventative in many ways. It increases flexibility and blood flow which limits the chance of a muscle pull and joint pain. A proper warm-up also gets the lifter in a groove for their exercise.

Increasing Flexibility:

Warming up is a great way to increase flexibility before a heavy set. Training the muscles through an identical range of motion to the lift that is to be done stretches the muscle properly and prevents a pull of any muscle about to be trained.

Let's say a lifter is getting their legs ready for a set of full barbell squats, 355 pounds for 5 reps. they get into the gym and their legs are a bit tight. They head over to the squat rack and get under the bar. They squat down and can hardly get to parallel. Luckily, they can push a light weight back up.

Barbell Squat:

If they had skipped a warm-up and jumped right into 355 pounds, it would have pushed their legs past the maximum stretch point and chances are a muscle pull would result.

Warming Up For Optimal Results:

A lot of times a lifter will get to the gym and get right into their heavy sets with no warm-up. "Okay, I'll do one warm-up with the bar that will help a lot I guess". Maybe it helped a little bit but a proper warm-up can do you a lot better.