Upgrading Warm-Ups

How effective warm-ups can supercharge the session

In the olden days, I’d have my athletes get on the elliptical trainer for 5 minutes while watching television to “warm-up” for strength training. Then, we’d hit the weight room and they’d train as hard as they could and we’d call it good. I honestly never really thought about it until one of the new coaches at the gym asked me why I, myself, didn’t warm-up for my workouts and instead went right into the weight area of the gym. I explained that I did warm-up, with progressive movements and loads until I was ready to go hard.

“So, then,” Ryan asked, “Why don’t you do that with your clients?”

He was right. I didn’t even know how to answer him. I had learned the necessity of a warm-up (elliptical-style) in school, but in practice, what I did in my own workouts made more sense. I could be really warm, but not “ready.” What I want to see when someone first comes in the gym is some kind of process that gets them ready for high loading, or speed, or power. Most importantly, I want them set up to not get hurt.

I started thinking about progressive warm-ups, and how to fit all this warming up into a session that was only an hour. It wasn’t until maybe 2002 or 2003 that I remember Mike Boyle commenting that, “Any time you spend warming up is worth the trade off in the quality of the workout that follows.” Could I give 5 minutes to readiness? Ten? Twenty?

We learned several versions of movement preparation over the next few years, but it wasn’t until I learned about Ian Jeffreys’ R.A.M.P. protocol that I could get a full concept of what we were trying to do in the first part of any session. In this framework, there are four parts to the warm-up:

R: Raise

This phase involves activities that elevate key physiological qualities such as body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood flow. The goal is to gradually increase readiness without jumping straight into high intensity. I recommend doing this until you feel like it’s time to take the sweatshirt off.

Examples: Light jogging, jump rope, cycling, or other general movements related to the upcoming session. The elliptical sessions I prescribed fit here (and here alone).

A: Activate

The purpose of the Activate portion is to “turn on” specific muscles that will be used in the session, particularly those that may be under-active or commonly inhibited. In general we do a few end-range exercises, and a few lateral or multi-directional movements. This is where you see a lot of athletes using bands and rollers and such. It's easy to get wrapped up in this part of the warm-up, but we've got to limit it to five minutes or less. An important aspect of activation is that it doesn’t take multiple sets and progressive overload to achieve. A few short reps of 2-3 key movements and most people are good to go.

Examples: Glute bridges, scapular push-ups, band walks to activate glutes and core/hip structure.

M: Mobilize

This involves dynamic stretches and movements that increase range of motion and joint mobility. It helps to ensure the athlete can move through coming training patterns safely and effectively. These are a natural extension of activation exercises and many movements can serve similar purposes. This is the essence of our movement preparation sequence posted at the gym.

Examples: Leg swings, arm swings, dynamic lunges with rotation, sumo squats.

P: Potentiate

The final phase primes the nervous system for the demands of the workout by introducing movements that are higher in intensity and closely related to the session’s main activity.

Examples: Sprint drills, jumps, explosive push-ups—essentially lower-rep, higher-intensity movements to “switch on” performance. In a heavy strength session, we’ll aim for progressive increase in the primary lifts via 2-3 slightly lighter sets. You don’t want to (and can’t) do this for every exercise you plan to do in the session. Pick the two that involve the heaviest loads or most movement and start there.

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