Fitness

Don’t go straight into those bench presses.

Its important to know how to warm up before weight lifting for a number of reasons.

Think about a rubber band thats been lying around for a few years, Van Paris tells Bustle.

Trainers share how to warm up before weight lifting.

When you go to pull on it, it snaps.

Same with our muscles.

You could also do jumping jacks, burpees, or any othercardio exercisethatll get your blood pumping.

Warm up before weight lifting with a quick jog followed by dynamic stretches.

Stretching is especially important because lifting weights puts so much stress and pressure on your muscles, Martinez says.

All in all, a warm-up will make for a more effective lift.

Warm-Up Routine To Try Before Lifting

After doing your mini-cardio warm-up, try these exercises before lifting.

Arm Circles

  • Make small circles with your arms fully straightened out at your sides.

  • Slowly increase the size of circles.

  • Do both arms forwards then backwards.

Torso Rotations

  • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes facing forwards.

  • Gently turn your upper body to the right until shoulders are perpendicular to your feet.

  • Return to start position.

  • Repeat on the left side.

Leg Swings

  • Stand on one leg.

  • Swing the other leg forward, as if youre trying to kick something at waist height.

  • Let leg fall and swing backwards.

  • Repeat, then switch legs.

Dynamic Stretches

Move through some stretches that are specific to the muscles youre about to work while lifting.

  • To stretch your hamstrings, Martinez recommends moving one leg slightly forward, toe pointing up.

Bend your other knee and reach down towards your foot.

Repeat 10 times on each side.

  • You could also do shoulder rotations by holding onto alight resistance bandand lifting arms up overhead.

Warm-Up Sets

before you get going lifting weights, Gam suggests moving through a few practice lifting rounds.

Move through a couple of easy warm-up sets using a very light weight for the job, says Gram.

In total, your warm-up should last 10 to 20 minutes.

Once you feel ready, go ahead and slay that lifting sesh.

Studies referenced:

Beedle, B.

A comparison of two warm-ups on joint range of motion.

J Strength Cond Res.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17685684/

Behm, D.G., Chaouachi, A.

Does warming up prevent injury in sport?

The evidence from randomised controlled trials.

J Sci Med Sport.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16679062/

Park, H. (2018).

The effect of warm-ups with stretching on the isokinetic moments of collegiate men.

This article was originally published onDec.