Bodyweight What do you think about warm up?

[North Coast Miller]

I have always warmed up, and probably always will. A few minutes on the heavy bag, jump rope, burpees...anything to get a little sweat on my hairline and some heat coming off.

 

[offwidth]

Different sport but....
Olympic and Grand Tour Cycling Time Trialists warm-up on stationary bikes for 20-30min prior to entering the start house...

 

[Steve Freides]

I have always warmed up, and probably always will. A few minutes on the heavy bag, jump rope, burpees...anything to get a little sweat on my hairline and some heat coming off.

For a completely different approach: I complete entire lifting sessions without ever breaking a sweat. I will finish my deadlifts, walk upstairs, and sit down to teach a music lesson. If I feel like I'm going to start sweating, I rest longer.

-S-

 

[North Coast Miller]

For a completely different approach: I complete entire lifting sessions without ever breaking a sweat. I will finish my deadlifts, walk upstairs, and sit down to teach a music lesson. If I feel like I'm going to start sweating, I rest longer.

-S-

I might do that in the middle of a session when working higher tension or load for low reps/RPE, but I always start with a warm engine.

 

[coachnathanwhite]

Most of the coaches are saying about importance of warm up before training. From Pavel's old books I remember that he was not a big fan of doing warm up.

Pavel has always described his fast warmup as "highly individualized" so that is neither an endorsement or criticism for warm-ups. Like most things when dealing with the human body - It depends.

 

[Steve Freides]

The big takeaway regarding warmups that I remember from PTTP was that it's important to do what you're used to doing, and changing one's warmup habits can take time. But, at the end of the day, it's possible for most people to get used to doing less in the way of warmups than they do.

-S-

 

[Antti]

I think the studies in physical performance typically show that a warmer body, at least to a certain point, performs better than a colder one.

However, it is questionable if the necessary warmth should be achieved with anything else than lift specific ramp up lifts or just wearing extra layers or such.

 

[offwidth]

The folks over at Uphill Athlete place a lot of emphasis on Muscular Endurance training.
They also recommend, as they put it: ‘revving up your aerobic system’ prior to the training.
15 minutes of any easy aerobic effort, finishing with 2-3 min of Z3

 

[Steve Freides]

@Antti, the reasoning in PTTP is clear - people who do a lot of warmups sometimes do so to the detriment of the workout that follows if they do too many warmups with too heavy a weight. If memory serves, PTTP gives some examples of this.

-S-

 

[SteveR]

I seem to be evolving into two warmups.

1. Warm up for the day. OS Reset, brief and light upper/lower body movements
2. Warm up for workout- specific joints that are going to be loaded.

If I do 1 then 2 and everything else seems to work better during the day

Also, I do a lot of A+A EMOM format for different KB exercises and it takes about 4-5 work sets to really get clicking smoothly. It's like the the only way to fully warm up for the exercise work load is to actually do the exercise work load.

 

[Kiacek]

My view on warm-ups constantly changes, so I'll link Pavel's thoughts through the years instead:

It seems like Pavel's view has evolved over the years into a more satisfyingly complex and encompassing view of the value of warm-ups for different individuals and different types of exercise.

2000

Ironically, all of the above does not mean that you should stretch or warm up BEFORE your lifting. At the most do a couple of lighter sets of two to three reps just to get in the groove. Even that, in my not so humble opinion, is an overkill. You have started your power cycle with light weights and by the time you are moving heavy iron you should have developed acceptable technique. Understand that you might get injured whether you warm up and stretch or not. As the French say, C’est la vie!, such is life.

2002

Sep 3, 2002
Is it necessary to warm up before doing PTP, or is it a waste of time? How about cooling down after PTP? If it is a good idea to warm up & cool down, what are some good excercises for it? Thanks in advance

Sep 6, 2002
Com. fig fairy, there is no need to warm up before PTP. There is no need to cool down either; cooldown is for things that leave you wasted.

2006

The need to warm up before exercise is an old wives’ tale, but you do need a cool-down if you are coughing up a hairball

Note that the workout starts out at 5! Doc Sears is our kind of guy, who understands that life rarely affords the luxury of a warm-up: “When you are out of condition, it takes several minutes to get your breathing and heart rates up. As your physical condition improves your body gears up for exercise more easily"

2007

Apr 1, 2007
Pavel,

I've read a few times in your PTP, NW and BPA about the general uselessness of warmups, but I found this nugget from the Parisi training school videos on their website and was wondering what you thought of it.....
..."Game Speed Secret #1: A proper warmup is critical to performance."

Apr 2, 2007
Com. Vlad, I am not a fan of warmups but you should do what works for you

2009

Sep 16, 2009
Aside from when a wolf is going to attack you, why wouldn't you be a proponent of warm ups when lifting heavy? Warm ups increase immediate neural capacity and also blood invigoration, which is what some old school strongmen, such as Maxick, stated was the entire reason for exercise... nourishment

Com. xbloodyfeetx, it is an individual choice. For instance, I will "warm up" in the DL with two singles at 405 just to know how it feels that day. If I start lighter, heavier weights feel heavy. You might be different. But there is no proof that it is needed.

2010

Sep 9, 2010
Perhaps I am just missing this in the book, if so, a page reference would be great.

What is the party line on warm-up sets when following Power to the People?

It would seem that lots of sets working up to the 2x5 would be counter to the low volume/heavy weight approach.

Sep 11, 2010
Don't think "warm-up", think "skill rehearsal"

2013

Jan 29, 2013
I was re-reading the Strongfirst Newsletter and was wondering whether the Double Kettlebell Bottoms Up Front Squat exercise would be a good way to warmup?

Jan 30, 2013
NonStop, warm-up—or lack of it—is an individual choice. Worth a try.

Mar 29, 2013
...My question is, are you still OK with not warming up before big lifts with big weights?

Mar 30, 2013
Jose, "warm-up" sets may help you lift more by "greasing the groove" and increasing CP concentration. But it does not mean you need them or should become dependent on them. For the DL I personally like two singles at 80% just to see where I am at that day

Perform the above three drills in the specified order for three circuits before your kettlebell training. The above regimen is meant to bring a moderately tight but healthy person up to speed. If you have a medical condition, follow the warm-up advice of your medical professional. If you do not have a condition, do not be a sissy and keep it short.

2015

Mar 9, 2015
The one thing that confused me most in some of Pavel's is the lack of a warmup. I am thinking of PTTP, but saw the same in Tim Ferris' book where he describes the training of Barry Ross.

It buffles me as I had learned that a proper warmup is essential to perform well and not risk injury. I can and occasionally cut short warmup, but in hindsight it was a bad idea.

So I am asking if anyone can explain me the reason for skipping warmup and if that works for all lifts or only for som? I just cannot imagine to do the Olympic lifts without warmup lifts.

Mar 10, 2015
Leon, warm-up is highly individual. Speaking of Olympic lifters, Rigert famously walked over to the bar with 130kg or barefoot and wearing a swimsuit and casually snatched it. Dr. Judd Biasiotto, the author of the book 'Psych' we sell on this site, would sleep between powerlifting attempts.

"Greasing the groove" reduces the need for warm-up.

Aug 12, 2015
Pavel, can you please clarify one thing, since you moved this topic in your last article. I’ve read your books (Power to the People, Simple and Sinister and more) and I’m still not sure about your take on warming up. I understand that.in your opinion it is not a necessity. So one could start a practice without any preparation, right? I’m not concern aout muscles or tendons etc. but from your research or expierience isn’t that difficult for one’s heart?

Aug 17, 2015
MMD, there may be some medical reasons for particular people to warm up (up to our doctor).

Otherwise, warm up is individual. One can train himself to go hard with little or no warm-up. Soviets measured various functions (blood glucose, etc.) in athletes from different sports before competition and they found that the body was already priming itself (in a manner appropriate to a given sport).

Starting whatever you are about to do easy is a good call.

2019

Q&D after a warm-up of choice. Do the bare minimum recommended by your health care professional plus whatever else you need to stay healthy. Although a much more extensive warm-up increases performance in power exercises (but not strength exercises), it is hard to justify for an ultra-minimalist.

 

[personaltrainernl]

A decent warm-up before an exercise expands your veins, guaranteeing that your muscles are all around provided with oxygen. It likewise raises your muscles' temperature for ideal adaptability and productivity. By gradually raising your pulse, the warm-up likewise limits weight on your heart. yourgoalsnl

 

[Antti]

@Antti, the reasoning in PTTP is clear - people who do a lot of warmups sometimes do so to the detriment of the workout that follows if they do too many warmups with too heavy a weight. If memory serves, PTTP gives some examples of this.

-S-

Yes, doing too much takes away from the bottom line.

The last time I did a squat PR I did nothing but singles the whole session. I didn't start with an empty bar and did 15-20kg jumps, and it all was done in ten reps or so. I just felt good at every weight, so a single was enough. If I wouldn't have felt good, I'd have done more.

This all also depends on the absolute load used. With a lighter weight used, even if relatively hard, I think less warm up is necessary. But the longer warm up necessary for big weights is a rare problem.

I have done the warm up many ways, tried it out. Gone straight for a squat or deadlift 5*5 work weight, nothing but the five sets in a session. Done GTG bench and deadlift. I have done all kinds of foam rolling and activation drills and the like, with lots of warm up sets. In the end, I don't really warm up with anything else than the bar. If I feel like I should do something more, it typically means something is off and it should be fixed outside the training session.

 

[Minimalist]

Do you warm-up before stretching?

 

[Antti]

Do you warm-up before stretching?

It is generally advised to only stretch warm muscles. How warm exactly, is another matter.

 

[godofiron]

Most of the coaches are saying about importance of warm up before training. From Pavel's old books I remember that he was not a big fan of doing warm up.
I'm training everyday (GTG) so I do not do warm up and i feel good. In exercesises like weighted chin-ups risk of injury is much smaller than doing deadlifts (in my opinion)

Does a professional powerlifters/strongmen/weightlifters do a warm up? What do you think about doing warm-up before training ?

I like joint circling or bodyweight versions of the exercises I will be practicing that day.

 

[Steve Freides]

Do you warm-up before stretching?

Often stretching _is_ my warmup.

-S-

 

[Steve Freides]

A decent warm-up before an exercise expands your veins, guaranteeing that your muscles are all around provided with oxygen. It likewise raises your muscles' temperature for ideal adaptability and productivity. By gradually raising your pulse, the warm-up likewise limits weight on your heart. yourgoalsnl

The point of this ...

One can train himself to go hard with little or no warm-up. Soviets measured various functions (blood glucose, etc.) in athletes from different sports before competition and they found that the body was already priming itself (in a manner appropriate to a given sport).

... goes along with what I was saying in another thread (I think it was another thread ...) that, while wearing a heart rate monitor, if I simply _thought_ about the exercise I was about to perform, my heart rate went up.

-S-

 

[Kiacek]

The big takeaway regarding warmups that I remember from PTTP was that it's important to do what you're used to doing, and changing one's warmup habits can take time. But, at the end of the day, it's possible for most people to get used to doing less in the way of warmups than they do.

-S-

Somehow I missed this post the first time through, but I saw this post of yours from 2003 that is remarkably similar, and I thought it was very insightful. I hope you don't mind my sharing it.

Apr 6, 2003
I believe this is one of those "is the glass half empty or half full?" sorts of discussions. There is a warmup for every heavy lift. In the case of Judd Biassiotto, the preparation was mental, not physically lifting lighter weights, but the transformation of his body in the few seconds before his lift is certainly preparation, just of an unusual - and excellent! - sort. Pavel's point is not that one doesn't need to warmup up. It's that one can learn to live with very little warmup and therefore not leave one's strength back in the warmup sets. Each of us should do whatever we can do bring the most to the heavy lifting in terms of both mental and physical preparation. The less physical preparation one requires, the more likely it is that one will be able to be successful at heavy lifting.

 

[Steve Freides]

Somehow I missed this post the first time through, but I saw this post of yours from 2003 that is remarkably similar, and I thought it was very insightful. I hope you don't mind my sharing it.

I don't mind; actually I'm rather honored.

The time of the post you quoted, April, 2003, is also the month in which I took the RKC, class #4. If memory serves, there was a first class in 2001, two in 2002, and then 3 or 4 in 2003: April and June for sure, and I think again in the Fall once or twice. I don't recall the exact dates in the month so I think this was likely just before that (by a couple of weeks or so).

-S-