Monday, July 24, 2006

Sunday's Squat Workout & Warmup



20-minute warm-up of bodyweight exercises (overhead squats with broomstick, lunges, dynamic hamstring stretches, sumo squats, and then many sets of squats progressing up to my working weight)

1A) Narrow Squat (3x8)
1B) Plank with Forearms on Ball (3x90seconds)

2A) Overhand grip RDL plus Shrug (3x12)
2B) Kneeling Side Plank Crunch (3x20)

3A) Glute-ham Raise on Ball (2x15)
3B) Cable Lift (2x15)

My warm-up lasted 20 minutes before I was ready to do my first set of squats. This helped me to properly prepare my hips so that I could get perfect depth on the squat without feeling tight in my hips. The warm-up helped me increase my range of motion in my muscles and joints.

In contrast, another gentlemen came into the gym, immediately put a plate on each side of the bench and did his three sets and left.

I'm glad he didn't get hurt, and to be honest, he probably won't suffer an acute pec injury doing things that way, BUT...

over time, he might end up with a problem in his shoulder joints due to his "no warm-up" approach.

He should warm-up, starting with the bar.

Even guys that bench 500 pounds have no shame in starting with the bar (to see the training logs of 500+ pound benchers, visit www.elitefts.com).

So add a couple minutes of specific warm-up sets at the very least, if you are doing no warm-up at all.

CB

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