The Great Warm-up Debate
The warm up debate has been going on for decades. Should we stretch before we warm up? Should we warm-up before we stretch? Should we stretch at all? How about foam rolling, or myofascial compression? Should we roll before we stretch before we warm up? There are many possible permutations that sometimes, people just forget about warming up and go straight to the workout. Just how important is the warm up?
Before we answer that we have to take a look at the purpose of the warm up. Back in the early 70s until the early 2000s, warming up would usually consist of some light static stretching, or just your regular seated stretches. The reasoning was to get the muscles stretched to lessen the incidence of injuries and to increase blood flow to these muscles to get them “warm” for activity. Then we found out that static stretching actually inhibits and relaxes muscles so it doesn’t make sense to do it before the workout or activity because it lowers the force production of these muscles.
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This gave birth to dynamic stretching where you basically stretch while going through the range of motion of the joint. Then foam rolling was introduced as a way to facilitate blood flow and to ready the muscle tissue before going through actual movements. So which one should we use?
Recent research shows the importance of foam rolling or myofascial compression techniques to start the warming up process. This can be done with the use of a conventional foam roller or with specific tools like the triggerpoint therapy tools pictured below.
The purposes of myofascial compression are plenty. It facilitates blood flow to the targeted muscles by first inhibiting it via the compression. When the compression is releases, platelet-rich blood will come rushing to the muscle. When you add range of motion movements to the compression, this introduces light movements to the limb and muscle which reduces the incidence of injuries.
After going through myofascial compression, then you can start with some light stretching. I recommend stretching the bigger muscle groups and muscles that are more often “locked” because of usual everyday activities (read: sitting). I almost always start with the hip complex, specifically, the hip flexors which are always locked down due to sitting. The kneeling hip flexor stretches are always a great way to start stretching and you’ll feel so much looser on the hips after.
After light stretching, it’s time to get into some dynamic movements that will take your body through different poses and stretches. The key here is to take your limbs through their full range of motion so you can add mobility to each limb. Remember this relationship always: strength should be seen in the full range of motion of each joint. There’s no use in being strong if you will be strong in a limited range of motion. I know, some guys like big bulging muscles and there’s nothing wrong with that, but wouldn’t it be better to have big muscles but have the mobility to actually use them for good? I know I’d rather have that. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The point is to not skip the important step of mobility training before you go and punish yourself in the weight room.
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After going through dynamic stretching and mobility. Now it’s really time to get moving. You can do this by going on a light five-minute jog or doing some calisthenics like jumping jacks, high knees, or any general warm up run. You can also try skip ropes which is effective if you have limited space. Some people actually do this before going on light stretching or rolling which is counterproductive. Physiologically, you want to gradually increase in intensity to decreases the chances of injuries.
Going through your warm-up in this order will not only get you ready the right way, but also protect you from any overuse injuries, and when you’re into the sport of fitness, you want to keep at it as much as you can.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
