The Optimal, Science-Based Warmup

Your muscles and joints need to be primed for what’s about to happen in a workout. So you should never skip a warmup. This helps you perform better and avoid injuries. Okay, so what’s the best way to warm up? (according to science)

“If we understand a little bit about what's causing the adaptation that's going to tell you what you need to do or avoid in the warmup.“ - Andy Galpin

A warmup should be split into two parts.

1. A general warmup. 5-7 minutes of dynamic movements. High knees, butt kicks, arm swings, jump rope, etc.

2. Here it gets interesting. Your warmup should depend on what your goal is. Here’s why:

• If you want hypertrophy, the biggest adaptation driver is volume (number of sets X reps).

• If you want more strength, speed, power, or explosiveness, the biggest driver is intensity (output per rep).

Your warmup should not interfere with those. Meaning,

• For hypertrophy, warm up with some weight and lower repetitions
  
  How this looks: after a general warmup, go to your first complex move, like a pulldown or squat. Do a few sets, with 4-6 reps to build up to your working set. The fewer sets/reps it takes, the better. (Est. time: 5-10 minutes)
  
  This lets you preserve the volume for when you are inside the actual workout and trigger more growth.
  

• For strength, do as many warmup sets as you want.
  
  How this looks: go to your first move and take your time to build up until you feel you can hit max force. If you’re doing box jumps or sprints, warm up for as long as you want until you feel you can reach or exceed your maximum. (Est. time: 10-30 minutes)
  
  This lets you build to the highest intensity possible in the workout and trigger the best adaptation.
  
  This can take a while, but it’s better for development. With Andy’s athletes, one of them took 70 sets until he peaked but his performance still improved.

I know this is into the specifics but you’ll accelerate performance in your fitness programs. It’s how elite athletes train and it’s so accessible.

Start with a general warmup, things like dynamics, jump rope, jumping jacks, etc. Then, think of your goal.

Do low-volume sets for hypertrophy | Do high-volume sets for athletic performance.

Reader, how will you change your warmup the next time you go to the gym?

Think about it and try it out.

p.s. You don’t need to warm up each muscle group after a proper warm-up. So if you built up for a squat, and did it, you shouldn’t go warmup for deadlifts again. One time is enough. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Till tomorrow, bye Reader!