Do I need to warm up before lifting weights?

[easternmetals]

Hi, I?m 38 and have just started to lift weights a few weeks ago after a break of four years from the gym. Is it preferable to warm up before lifting weights? If so how would be the best way to go about it? At the moment I do five minutes on the cross trainer which is a cross country skiing action, and then I do a few light reps before adding weight.

Stretching before lifting causes micro-tears in your muscles and will actually weaken your next lift. Look it up bro, dont stretch.

I think the cross trainer thing is an cool idea. I dont warm up at all, but, I usualy lift after work. I work a real job. I dont answer phones, or do accounting... so I guess it all depends on you bro.

Either way I dont think this topic is that serious or what ever. If what you're doing is working for you and you're getting results then roll with it. I think people get ****ed up in the gym because their form is bad or theyre using too much weight. Not cause they didnt warm up...

[ntrllftr]

...

Good try bro.
However...

Harryboomer's Last Visit: Mar 9, 2008

Highly doubt that he will see this.


Although I'm happy to say that I still practice what I preach.....

I feel that warm up sets are a must to prevent injury.
Normally I do 2-3 warm up sets then a moderate weight set then working sets. I will NOT waste any energy by way of cardio prior to lifting weights.

I would post the same thing today.

[Corbi]

Wow, strong fukkin bump on this one.

Carl, I do the same thing. Warm up with light sets and then hit my working sets. There is no way in hell I could ever just plop down and get right into my working sets without any form of stretching or light sets beforehand. I'd be tearing up body parts left and right, have enough issues keeping my body in 1 piece as it is.

[racedoc]

There is actually a "scientific" (MAX OT) way to warm-up/acclimate before doing heavy compound lifts such as the lifts you mentioned, and it works wonders for many. Let's assume you're going to use 200# as a working weight. You'd acclimate like this:

50% for 12 reps (100#) w/2min rest
50% for 10 reps (100# " 2min "
67% for 6 reps (135#) *3min rest*
82% for 3 reps (165#) " 2min "
93% for 1 rep (185#) " 2min "

The percentages are what you need to know/try. Notice there is a 3min rest after the 6 rep set. At least use 2.5 if not the whole 3, as it will matter at that %. I've shared this with quite a few journalers here and they've all surprised themselves with how much weight they quickly increased for working weight. The principle here is to warm-up/acclimate without exhausting muscle. These percentages achieve this goal for most. Try it and see for yourselves . At some point down the road, you'll probably find yourself skipping doing the entire routine, but you'll likely keep a large part of it. And the rest time might seem excessive to some of you, but again, there's a reason for it.



Absolutely!

Reps on that - what a great post! Just printed it out and taping it up in my home gym. I'm coming off a couple weeks off from a grade 1 quad strain from being an idiot in a rush and not warming up, and that schedule you posted looks great. Thanks!

[RobRocks]

I always warm up before my workout,I bike 25mins from work to the gym,the i do a couple of sets with light weights 1st

[GuyJin]

Eric Broser wrote an interesting article about warmups. Usually guys do the lighter sets with higher reps i.e. 12 reps with 30% of their weight, 10 reps with 40% etc. Problem is, for many people, they get sort of tired before getting into the working sets and their performance suffers. Broser recommended--and Charles Poliquin has written about this as well--to do lower reps, no more than five or so, and save your strength. This would probably work better for a strength training regimen i.e. All Pros, Rippetoes or Starrs' 5x5 routine but would serve just as well, IMHO, in a bodybuilding routine. JMO...

[jonnyboy44]

As well as warm up and stretching Ive started to do a core workout first,(magazine article reccomendation) not a major abs session, just a few sets of crunches and 3x1 min planks. Only been doing this for a short time so not sure if it,ll make a difference. Anyone else do this?

[ntrllftr]

Eric Broser wrote an interesting article about warmups. Usually guys do the lighter sets with higher reps i.e. 12 reps with 30% of their weight, 10 reps with 40% etc. Problem is, for many people, they get sort of tired before getting into the working sets and their performance suffers. Broser recommended--and Charles Poliquin has written about this as well--to do lower reps, no more than five or so, and save your strength. This would probably work better for a strength training regimen i.e. All Pros, Rippetoes or Starrs' 5x5 routine but would serve just as well, IMHO, in a bodybuilding routine. JMO...

What's with the avi bro? So, now I can take yer comments seriously.






I Train pretty much for both strength and size... I have never felt that I suffered from doing warm ups.

[KeithTheSnake]

Jack LaLanne didn't believe in warming up. He uses the analogy of a lion hunting its prey -- it doesn't take the time to warm up, but instead just leaps into action.

Of course, he was unusual in that he had sex in his 90s almost every night: "Almost on Monday, almost on Tuesday, almost on Wednesday..."

I just thought I'd throw that unpopular point of view into the mix. As for me, I employ a gentle warmup with an empty bar, then about 50% of the working weight, then working weight thereafter for the first exercise involving the bodypart.

[EjnarKolinkar]

I don't like long light set warm ups, but I will,always at least increase blood flow and temp in shoulders with some band movements, and rotator cuff exercise, prior to push, or just band prior to pull. I also think a quick 3-5 minute active stretch prior to leg makes sense. Doing work cold causes me problems.

[ironwill2008]

Some type of warmup before lifting heavy weights is mandatory.


























Unless you only expect to do it once.

[GuyJin]

What's with the avi bro? So, now I can take yer comments seriously.

I Train pretty much for both strength and size... I have never felt that I suffered from doing warm ups.

---

Guess I don't want to be seen as a 300-pound Internet keyboard warrior. (Just a 200-pound one)

Nothing wrong with doing warmups at all. I do and as Ironwill said below, they should be mandatory for lifting heavy (relatively speaking) weights. Whatever works.

[induced_drag]

If my body is already "warm", I do very little in the way of warming up. If my joints are cold...etc, sometimes I even take a hot shower to get blood flow around the joints.

Other then that.....I really dont warm up.

I like to however in the winter, to put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants (sometimes even a winter hat indoors) maybe an hour prior to my w/o. Just gets me warm and tosty.

In the summer, I can go right into my working sets.



If I do warm up, it might just be 1 or 2 light sets on my first exercises. 5-6 reps. After that, I dont warm up on following exercises.

I think it is about knowing when your body is ready to lift something. The shower is a key for me in the winter, there are times it would take me a 20min warm-up to be ready to lift heavy. (getting blood flow). A 5-10min HOT shower does wonders.

YMMV.... No injuries Knock on wood! And I lift 'heavy' generally in all my workouts.

[Rocky3540]

Just throw 350 on the bar and work whatever muscle of the day is.

[flowxsss]

15 minutes stationary bike followed by couple of warm up sets with light weights, then am ready for my workout.

[miamibodybuilder]

well theres been many debates and articles regarding this issues that i've read. so i'll just give you my opinion and whats worked for me personally. ever since i started training for baseball my freshman year of college, our strength coach always made us stretch and warm up beforehand. and luckily i have not suffered any major injuries during training, i've had my fair share of aches and pains but thats normal i think. so i always do some sort of stretching and warming up before i begin working out. usually my warm up consists of a few minutes on the bike or treadmill and a few light sets to get the blood flowing. i've been doing it this way for years and it's worked for me. so thats my 2 cents.

[thor93]

Allright,i DO warm up but lately,not nearly as much. I joined a gym on 11/14/12 and was biking there(6 miles),then still doing warm up sets.
Its been way too cold to bike there anymore,so i've been just driving to the gym over the last 4 weeks. I warm up the same amount in the weightroom as i was when i was biking the six miles to get there. I dont stretch before lifting weights,havent done that in many years. Instinctively sensed it wasnt the ideal thing to do. Cardio pre weights works fne though,just gotta make sure you're properly nourished and hydrated.
I DO stretch after the weights,especially because i do heavybag workouts post weight training. Basically kickbox type stuff. A good half hour or so following a 90-110 minute weight training session. Leaves me nice and limber,feeling light instead of all pumped up feeling much bigger like i do if i dont incorporate the heavybag workouts following weight training. I'd prefer feeling light and limber walking out of the gym instead of that delusional "I feel Wayyy bigger now" feeling.

[racedoc]

There is actually a "scientific" (MAX OT) way to warm-up/acclimate before doing heavy compound lifts such as the lifts you mentioned, and it works wonders for many. Let's assume you're going to use 200# as a working weight. You'd acclimate like this:

50% for 12 reps (100#) w/2min rest
50% for 10 reps (100# " 2min "
67% for 6 reps (135#) *3min rest*
82% for 3 reps (165#) " 2min "
93% for 1 rep (185#) " 2min "

The percentages are what you need to know/try. Notice there is a 3min rest after the 6 rep set. At least use 2.5 if not the whole 3, as it will matter at that %. I've shared this with quite a few journalers here and they've all surprised themselves with how much weight they quickly increased for working weight. The principle here is to warm-up/acclimate without exhausting muscle. These percentages achieve this goal for most. Try it and see for yourselves . At some point down the road, you'll probably find yourself skipping doing the entire routine, but you'll likely keep a large part of it. And the rest time might seem excessive to some of you, but again, there's a reason for it.



Absolutely!

A one month follow up - been doing this warm up since it was posted and have to thank you again for posting it. Has been the best warm routine I've done! No little nagging strains, etc, and an increase in ability/confidence on the work sets. Might be partly psychologic, admittedly, but really appreciate it!

[FitnessFan76]

i've heard stretching before could lead to injury. I warm up on elliptical machine for 5min. Sometimes i warn up doing crunches.

So have I - static stretches, at least - dynamic stretches are supposed to be a good way to warm up, while saving the static ones for cooling down.

[Mdenatale]

As a baseball player and coach I can tell you our golden rule is never stretch cold muscles. We always do a dynamic warm up. It loosens up muscles more then actually stretching them. As it relates to baseball there are studies that have shown stretching without warm up cause more problems than it solves. We stretch after its all over as part of a cool down routine.

For weight training I personally warm up with 3 minutes on the treadmill then 3 minutes on the heavy bag. Get blood flowing in the upper and lower body. Then I just go through a dry run of the exercise motion right before starting it.