STEP ONE- ADMITTING YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.....

I have a confession to make. I have not been a smart athlete, and it is finally catching up to me. I have been lazy for far too long now. What am I talking about? I am talking about my horrible bad habit of just setting up my workouts and then 3,2,1....Go! This type of training has JACKED ME UP, especially over the last three months where I have increased both the weights of my work load and additional strength training. In the last three months, I have suffered from nagging little injuries. Nothing debilitating, but just enough injury to inhibit my ability to give a 100% effort. Plus, not really working at warming up is the reason why my flexibility is only slightly better than it was when I started CrossFit over three years ago.

Great athletes commit to warming up just as they commit to throwing themselves at their training full tilt boogie. I look at all the great CrossFit athletes that I admire, and I know that each of them takes their warm-up seriously. I have been a mediocre CrossFit athlete for too long. If I want to become even a good athlete, I need to embrace the warm-up.

I have become a warm-up whore! For two weeks now I have been scouring the internet to learn what other athletes do for their warm-up. There are some really good routines out there. (Interestingly enough, the "Official CrossFit Warm-up" is probably my least favorite of all of them. How boring is it to do the CrossFit warm-up every time you work out!) I truly believe that your warm up should be constantly varied and functional, so I have been taking bits and pieces of all the stuff that I am reading up on and totally experimenting with it. I have really noticed a difference in how I feel after a workout when I incorporate a warm-up with lots of dynamic stretching/movement coupled with some static stretching. When trying to find the perfect warm-up, I am looking for movements that not only get me prepared to work out, but also help improve my weaknesses and increase my ability to maintain midline stability. That being said, my warm-up has to be different every day because I have many weaknesses and my midline stability needs to get WAY better! 

My bullshit training sessions are over! I got a great tip from Angel Orozco of San Francisco CrossFit the other day. He told me he sets a timer for 20 minutes and warms up the entire time. No performing a workout until the 20 minutes of warm-up is up. I tried this yesterday for the first time and it was OUTSTANDING! I felt fantastic after the warm-up was over, and I plowed right through my workout feeling pretty damn good. Better yet, no aches and pains afterward.

I am committed to perfecting the warm-up for every workout. I strongly believe that your warm-up should not be so taxing that it hinders your ability to get the most intensity out of your workout. I absolutely hate the CrossFit saying "Our warm-up is your workout." I think that saying misses the point. A warm-up should get your connective tissue and muscles ready for full range of motion and warm the body up for a dose of hard training.  

So how does all this pan out for you One Worlders? I hope that those of you who I have trained the last few weeks have noticed the differences in the warm-up portion of the session. I feel like I have done just an okay job warming you all up in the past, but now my goal is to provide my session participants with the best warm-up for their workout, and the best warm-up to help them become better athletes overall. I know the other trainers at One World are already doing a good job at warming you all up, but I hope this inspires them to get creative and be better!

So how do you like to warm-up? Have some favorite movements or a cool routine you like to follow? Please post to comments so this "warm-up whore" can learn from you!

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Speaking of warming up, it is also important to take care of yourself after a workout is over. The Myofunction Clinic occurs on 11/14 & 11/15. Learn how to use myofascial release techniques to increase your flexibility and prevent/rehab injury. Register by clicking the link in the Upcoming Events sidebar on the right. The cost is $375. If you really want to attend, but money is tight, contact me and I might be able to work something out with you. I strongly believe this clinic would be beneficial to all One World members. 

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Don't forget that Angela Lim is hosting a Clean Clinic this Saturday from 10a to 12p. Sign up at the front desk. Space is limited to 7 participants. You don't have to be a One World member to sign up. Call the gym for more details, 510-324-8153

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And finally, the web store is back online after some technical difficulties that the web host was having. All good now. Stay tuned for sweatshirts and new girl's shirts.

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REST DAY   10/22/2009

Rest....OR....make up a workout you missed....OR....

Come up with a warm-up routine and post it comments!

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One of my favorite warm-up routines from an athlete I greatly admire, Dutch Lowy.

Comments

[Andrea]

OK Freddy, I got a rowing warmup for you:

500 meters of pause rowing - 200m pause at arms away AND body over; 300m pausing only at body over

then,

10 minutes @ 75% pressure of:

2 min: 16 strokes/min (SPM)
2 min: 22 SPM
2 min: 26 SPM
1 min: 30 SPM
3 min: 20 SPM

...thoughts? Could be fun...

[Trevor]

Hey Freddy, thanks for the email. Good comments. Us old men are like fine old Italian autos... got to let them idle a while before you crank the RPMs. Best.

[Andrew]

I would look into resistance stretching. It is phenomenal!

[Dutch]

Nice post Freddy! Its great that it only took you 4 years to figure this out...
haha! Miss ya buddy!

Dutch

[David B. MCAS Miramar]

I warm up my guys/gals w/ quadrupedal movments, various tumblings, and some agility work...gets the blood flowing and it fun too!

[Ben Brown]

I have a few different warmup routines depending on the WOD. I start out almost all of them with a 500m row focusing on my form. Then I change it up between: 4 rounds of 10 med ball slams (15#), 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups -or- 3 rounds of 5 med ball burpees (15#), 5 kipping pull-ups (trying to get C2B each time) and 5 OHS(45#). I have a few others also, but those are the ones that get me going the best. 106 days until R&R!!!

[Kyle - Crossfit West Santa Cruz]

Freddy, I like geeking out on this stuff too!

Here are some resources I found helpful and gave me some good ideas for my warm up.

"The When and Why of Static Stretching"
http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/08/the-when-and-why-of-static-stretching/

Catalyst Athletics Warm Up
http://www.cathletics.com/wod/video/CAStandardWarmup.mov

[Sterling D]

hey freddy what happen to the links for the jiu-jitsu academy I looked for it in two browsers, is it just me but i can't find em

[freddy c.]

Sterling, I will get the link up in a bit

[CraigH - DiabloCrossFit]

Great post Freddy.

Guilty as charged.

My sentence: two weeks off from training with a re-injured low back (3 times in two months).

[freddy c.]

I'm on to something here. Did andrea's row warm up, then spent five minutes doing dynamic hip stretches and five minutes opening up the shoulders. Went on to hit a HUGE 13# pr on my back rack split jerk,283#!

[Alex]

My body is wrecked. Bought a tens unit, giving my back and shoulder a break! Will come back slow but I definately need to warm the oven before I cook my WOD. I really like Cheryl warm up.... 10 minutes on the rope nothing to crazy but when you mess up you hit 20 ab mats. Shoulder feels great after this. I agree though this is a weakness in my training.

[Mr Functional]

A warmup takes away from the functionality of crossfit. You don't get a warm up when the sh*t hits the fan. You are caught off guard and it's 321 GO!! That's how your workout should be, just like real life.

Doing a warm up is like doing curls in the squat rack. Not functional and counterproductive.

[Tony Rosa]

Reagarding Alex's comment on October 22, 2009 at 17:23

Alex raises a good point worthy of further discussion. Yes, one of the tenets of CrossFit and functional fitness is to be be prepared for unknown and unknowable, so in that sense a warm-up is counterproductive. In fact, during my level 1 cert, we were told that you should practice what it would feel like to experience how the body reacts when having to produce all out effort without the benefit of a warm-up, even after having just eaten a meal. That makes sense to me, especially if you are a cop or a firefighter. That said, the idea of performing at your peak without a warm-up is not smart. For these 'industrial' athletes, I would offer that the best way to be ready to operate would be to at least move and incorporate dynamic stretching throughout the day/night while on the job. It doesn't require too much space, and shouldn't compromise security, etc.

[Greg/M2]

Working out on a regular basis at a high intensity like the CrossFit program prescribes, and NOT warming up, is foolish!

Yes, you are correct, life sometimes does not allow for a warm up, but life sometimes puts you on your backside several weeks at a time to recover, and your workout should not.

As in a workout, maximum effort in a life threatening encounter may cause injury, but the injury is not always felt immediately, and the effort can continue until the task is accomplished. This is good when life is at risk, bad when exercising for life.

I have a job, like some of you, that can go from "0" to an all-out effort to keep myself alive. So before I leave for work, I do a :20 minute easy-moderate body weight only routine. It gets my body ready for life, and keeps me mentally alert.

Then, at the end of my 12hr shift, I do CrossFit, and yes, I warm up first. I can not afford to miss work because I failed to warm up first and got injured. If I get injured after an encounter on the street, then I am covered. I will say this, of the times I did have to go all-out on the job, It worked out just fine, except for the two times I tried to tackle a 3,500lb moving automobile. :)