Get Pumping Before You Start Jumping: Warming Up

Short and sweet this ought to be.

It’s simple. Never, ever, ever jump right into your workout without properly warming up beforehand, capiche?

What does warming up mean? It means getting your heart pumping at a higher rate and increasing blood flow throughout either your entire body or to specific muscle groups that are about to be put through the test in the gym or the field.

You often see athletes jumping up and down around the track before being substituted into the game. It always happens. No coach is ever going to send in a player who’s been sitting on the bench for an hour or so head on into the game without a decent 10-15 minute warm up beforehand; but why?

Warming up does more than just funnel oxygen and nutrients into your muscle fibers, it adequately prepares the muscle fibers and relaxes them which in turn can help prevent painful potential injuries on account of muscles being too tense to activate efficiently.

My warm ups can vary day-on-day between doing them on a treadmill, a stationary bike, an elliptical machine or throwing in a combo of body weight workouts together for a good 10 minutes till I’ve broken a sweat and gotten ready for what’s to come. Here’s a sample to give you a better idea [YouTube any moves you may not be familiar with for reference or have an experienced fitness instructor show you how to do them]:

[Note: This warm up is practiced by jumping on and off a treadmill that is left running on speed 8 during the duration of the entire warm up so that I am jogging, jumping off, performing the different moves then jumping back on for a jog and so on and so forth till the 10 minutes are up. This can be substituted for other workout machines or by running in place if there is no treadmill]

• Jog for 2 minutes
• High knees in place [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Moving high knees [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• High heels [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Moving high heels [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Jumping jacks [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Power jacks [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Bodyweight squats [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Jumping squats [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Sumo squats [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Boxersize [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Mummy kicks [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Alternating knee-to-elbow kicks [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Mountain climbers [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Push ups [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Dips [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 10 seconds
• Pull ups/chin ups [15 repetitions]
• Jog for 1 minute

Sounds awfully long and complicated for a warm up doesn’t it? Really and truly isn’t. I’m not just saying that because my life revolves around fitness, I honestly started learning this routine a few months back and once you get the hang of it, the tempo becomes quite memorable and you become quite adept at switching up some of the moves and laying special focus on specific muscle groups as per the intended workout of the day.

Warm ups can also incorporate dynamic stretches, which I discussed briefly in a previous post.

Obviously the above highlights what I do, it’s meant to be a general thing you take up unless you can do it safely and above all, would like to make it a part of your fitness routine.

Don’t forget to get pumping before you start jumping!

Handling the Morning After: The Real Walk of Shame

Raise your hand if you woke up the day after a grueling workout and you could have sworn you thought you were dying from the amount of pain being inflicted on you by your sore muscles. I will assume at least 99.99% of you raised your hand. Which is really weird, because you’re reading this off your computer or your phone, which I’m sure would look really odd to bystanders and onlookers. Put your hand down you are such an embarrassment.

So before we get to the “how” of dealing with post-workout muscle soreness, let’s tackle the “why” of why it happens in the first place. Weight lifting and exercising in general operates on the muscles by means of creating micro-tears (don’t freak out, that’s a good thing!) in the muscle fibers which eventually prompt the body to fix and repair and to make them bigger by increasing their size and adding more muscle fiber so the muscle is able to perform the same exercise next time without experiencing those tears; which is why we always raise the intensity of our workout!

Why is it then that we feel sore? Well those micro-tears prompt your nerves to send out signals which resemble those of pain throughout your body which in turn triggers your nervous system to start funneling and channeling nutrients specifically towards those muscle which now require massive repairs and overhaul in order to be as good as new. Depending on the person, this feeling of soreness can last anywhere between 12 hours and three days depending on how new you are to the whole exercising thing, if it was the first time for you to perform this particular workout or if it was particularly intense.

Now, it’s vital that you be able to distinguish the difference in feeling muscle soreness the day after your workout and the feeling of a torn muscle (not good!). If you tore a muscle, you’re likely to feel it right then and there in the gym or shortly after your workout. You will be in a LOT of pain. It won’t feel normal or something you could just brave through. If it’s a particularly bad muscle tear, your skin in the affected area will turn dark purple on account of the internal bleeding within a few hours. Head to an ER immediately.

There are various degrees of muscle tear which range from low damage that heals within the week to complete muscle rupture which requires surgery and months of recovery. The trick to avoiding this is knowing your limit, don’t push it with extra heavy weights on exercises that put too much stress on your muscles. Have a spotter help you out when lifting heavy weights to ensure you don’t end up crushing your face underneath a barbell. Always, always, always make sure you are performing each and every repetition in perfect form; that is not negotiable. Do not sacrifice form for more weights. Ever.

So now we’ve tackle the why, the how to of taking care of sore muscles is rather simple. First off, make sure you stretch at the end of your workout, taking your time to stretch out the muscles which were engaged during the day’s workout thoroughly. Second, take a cold shower right after your workout, this helps the muscle relax instead of using hot water.

Third, make sure you’re eating a butt load of protein in all your day’s meals, be they breakfast, snacks, lunch or dinner. This is the most essential nutrient your body needs for muscular fiber repair above all else. Consuming whey protein right after your workout and taking BCAAs before your workout or before bedtime can also drastically improve recovery time. Lastly, and this is sort of a given, rest. Nothing will help your muscles heal better than a good old fashion 7 to 8 hour slumber.

With time you’ll find that your body can adapt quite well to handling soreness, eventually the same exercises may cease to cause any soreness whatsoever unless you vary the intensity greatly or utilize new ones altogether.

Pro tip: A professional massage can go a long way in easing any muscle soreness as it triggers increased blood flow to affected muscle fibers; carrying more nutrients and oxygen and whisking away toxins.

Take care, stay safe and have a friend pick you up from the gym after leg day.

Do It Like Them Kitty Cats Do: Stretching

Isn’t it amazing how cats can do all kinds of shit with their bodies right when they wake up (which is always because when are cats not asleep?) Well have you also happened to notice that cats are flexible little hair balls that can easily shrug off moves and falls that would leave your sorry ass as broken as your mom’s favorite vase after making head on contact with a football?

It’s not a coincidence.

Almost every animal on Earth still practices what we Homo sapiens used to do every day back when were ironically had more evolved physiques in our pre-civilization history. They stretch their bodies. Stretching has numerous benefits on the body which can include…

• Increasing your overall flexibility as well as your joints’ range of motion.
• Improving overall muscular performance on account of constantly engaging muscle fibers.
• Improved blood circulation which in turn improved muscle function as increased blood flow clears out toxins/waste byproducts and brings forth new nutrients.
• Improves body posture as it prevents your muscles from getting tight/too flexed which allows you to maintain a proper posture. This is important to keep aches at bay and minimize discomfort as you age.
• Relieves stress as it relaxes any tight or tense muscles which are often brought about by stress factors.
• Enhances overall coordination by maintaining the full active range of motion for your joints and muscles which keeps you in a better balance, make you less prone to injury from falls and keeps you more mobile as you get older.

Fantabulous. We’ve reiterated what a simple Google Search could have done in six neat bullet points. Stretching is good for you, but what does that really mean for you as someone who exercises frequently and more specifically samples with the occasional weight lifting as part of your fitness routine?

Why! Everything you dimwitted little newt!

Working out, and specifically weight lifting, causes your muscles to tense as they are flexed within their maximum capacity which can hinder their range of motion over time unless you stretch regularly. Basically, a stretched muscle is a healthy muscle. But it’s not so simple you see...

Let’s get one thing straight, stretching before your workout is a major No No as this can actually make you more prone to injury as you are stretching and flexing the muscle fibers before they are warmed up and expected to perform at a high intensity. The only stretches you could do before a workout are dynamic ones; meaning they have some form of movement.

The main stretches I am talking about and the ones you should do at the end of every workout - and even on your rest days before bedtime - are static ones; ones that require you to maintain the stretch in a specific posture for a specific length of time without moving.

Static stretching is very important for all the aforementioned reasons but like any form of physical exercise should be practiced with care to execute safely and in perfect form in order to reap out the intended benefits and avoid any potential injury. You need to have an experienced individual or fitness instructor show you how to properly perform all the different stretches (starting out with beginner/basic moves) and working your way up as your progress.

Make sure your stretches of the day correspond to the body part/muscle group which you just inflicted a Hellish punished on. For instance if today is Leg day, make sure to dedicate a good 10 minutes to stretches at the end of your routine, taking care to give every stretch position a good 30 seconds or so of static posture in order to ensure that your beaten and bruised muscles are properly stretched out.

Be safe and let me know if you have any questions or comments by commenting below or tweeting me @Foxicakes