For some reason, the idea of “warming up” to average gym-goers has devolved into an unorganized mess of a couple of arm swings and a short jog on the treadmill. Most gym-goers will agree that the most important aspect of training is making progress, and injury can be a huge setback when it comes to that progress. Unfortunately many people only think about this when it is already too late.

“Prehab” is the idea of tackling muscle imbalances ahead of time in order to prevent injury. In order to successfully do this and keep making progress in the gym, it is imperative that you have a comprehensive warm-up plan in which you prepare your body to do not only what you did last training session¸ but to surpass it. Luckily, due to much research and personal experience I have devised a simple warm-up program that will make prehab an easy addition to your training regimen. Follow this plan and you will make every training session your BEST training session.

I have broken warming up into 4 categories:

• Elevating body temperature
• Myofascial release
• Corrective stretching
• Activation

Sound complicated? It’s not. You will be surprised to learn just how easy and fast each of these are as I break them down for you.

Elevating body temperature:

Simply walking on a treadmill or pedaling an exercise bike can accomplish this. Nothing hardcore, just a couple minutes of light intensity until you feel warm.

Myofascial release:

This is a fancy word that basically just means massage. There are a number of methods you can use, giving you numerous benefits. First and foremost it generates blood flow to the muscle, joints, and ligaments, preparing them for strenuous activity. Secondly, over time your muscles can develop adhesions and trigger points, which can inhibit your progress in the gym. Using this technique will help break up these adhesions and track down trigger points allowing the muscles to grow and get stronger. Lastly you can use this technique to help prime the central nervous system to increase your performance in the gym. The tools for this are the foam roll¸ and a baseball or tennis ball. Here is a sequence I use with all my clients:

Foam roll – it bands, quads, hips flexor, hamstrings, back, back mobility, lats, chest , arms

Baseball or tennis ball – feet, calf, Achilles, pirformis, infraspinatus, traps

There is no super scientific way to perform these movements; it is as simple as finding ways to apply pressure over the area while rolling out the adhesions or zeroing in on the trigger points.

Corrective Stretching:

This warm-up technique is used to help lengthen muscles. Shortened muscles can cause extra stress in areas of the body where you don’t want it. Shortened muscled also have a greater potential for getting injured. Using corrective stretching will help increase flexibility and mobility, and it can begin to fix muscle imbalances. This will go a long way towards helping you prevent injury and making you stronger. Here are some stretches that will help flexibility:

• Traps
• Hamstrings
• Hips
• Calf/Achilles
• Chest
• Arms
• Shoulder
• Back

Equally important is increasing mobility in order to help you train through a full range of motion. Here are some mobility drills that should be a staple in your warm-up routine.

• High knees
• Cradle walk
• Buttkick
• Warrior Lunge
• Leg Swings
• Squat-to-Stand
• Scapular Wall-slide
• Shoulder Dislocates
• Band Pull-Aparts
• Reach-and-Roll
• Scapular Pushups

Activation: 

Once we have accomplished all of that it is time to put on the finishing touches. It is important that you activate the muscles that you will be using that day. I have broken down some activation techniques for both Upper and Lower body.

Upper

• Explosive Pushups
• Planks
• Lower
• Glute-Ham Bridge
• Birddog
• Fire Hydrant
• X-Steps
• Broad Jumps

Now it is time to get lifting. Always start with an unloaded bar, increasing the weights in even increments until you reach your work-sets.