Do You Feel Warmups Are Really Necessary?

[speedy]

The title pretty much sums it up. I see posts about people saying to get the COC-T for warm-ups and no matter what my workout is (grip, body, whatever) I stopped doing warm-ups years ago for I found they really don't help. Thoughts?

[Wayne]

I assure you, all of the best athletes in the world do some kind of warm up.

[Chez]

I pyramid up several warm up sets before my working sets in grippers and all forms of strength training. It gets the body part you are training ready for the high effort sets and helps prevent injury. You can usually tell if something is wrong during the warm up sets, which will allow you to stop the workout before an injury occurs during a heavy working set.

[Josh O'Dell]

Warm ups for sure i would never train without them, unless you like snap city i would do them.

[John McCarter]

If you're going in cold, no matter what you're doing, you can hurt your self, if not now, it will be a matter of time. Plus, going off of what Chez said, warming up lets you feel how your body will handle the movements.

[climber511]

At my age I have to warm up to get out of bed . Many if not most people do what I would call a "warm up" by starting light and adding weight gradually to the exercises. A more traditional "warm up" is often considered doing a more general movement or movements that raise body temperature and bring fluid to the joints. Not very many people throw a one rep max on the bar cold and go for it. So warm up is a sort of definition thing - what I call warming up and what you do may have sightly different meanings.

[speedy]

At my age I have to warm up to get out of bed . Many if not most people do what I would call a "warm up" by starting light and adding weight gradually to the exercises. A more traditional "warm up" is often considered doing a more general movement or movements that raise body temperature and bring fluid to the joints. Not very many people throw a one rep max on the bar cold and go for it. So warm up is a sort of definition thing - what I call warming up and what you do may have sightly different meanings.

This I agree with 100%. I didn't think of it like that, and that makes perfect sense.

[Jedd Johnson]

Speedy, you don't do ANY warm-ups for anything? You can just walk up to your max weight and crush, pinch, squat, deadlift, and bench it?

[Stephen Ruby]

Warm ups are incredibly important not only for injury prevention but to prime the CNS and get blood flowing to help with maximum strength.

[speedy]

Speedy, you don't do ANY warm-ups for anything? You can just walk up to your max weight and crush, pinch, squat, deadlift, and bench it?

Yes. It might be relative to what I am doing at any given time. For instance I wake up anywhere between 5:30am to 6am. I get up, out of bed, do my typical bathroom duties (toilet, brush my teeth, and so on). Then I either walk into my garage and hit the power rack (no weights). Pull-ups (many variation and tools I use), dips, and bunch of other exercises. I am planning to start doing weighted pull-ups again just want my elbows to get used to my bodyweight before I start introducing weights to it. On other days I might get up, do my bathroom duties again (same routine previously listed), bang out burpees and/or session on the Airdyne, and so on.

I haven't benched or squat for quite some time. I converted to bodyweight exercises; I like them more and some body parts are responding better to them. However, when I hit the gym I can't ignore dumbbells: LOVE THEM! Especially with fat gripz on them. Love it!!! Did I say love it? I have to bang out dips, core exercises, and no matter what I have to include a pull-up routine even if it is towel pull-ups as a finisher.

[Jedd Johnson]

I think you are asking for an injury and leaving weight on the table by not warming up, but what do I know.

[speedy]

I think you are asking for an injury and leaving weight on the table by not warming up, but what do I know.

You might be right, but the only injury I ever suffered was tennis elbow by doing too much too soon on weighted pull-ups. I did have to do a warm-up once, and that was going into my town gym after coming from zero-degree weather. I hopped onto an elliptical, set it to the highest setting, and did that for 5-minutes or more just to warm my body back up to my typical temperature then went into my daily routine.

[Chez]

Speedy, you don't do ANY warm-ups for anything? You can just walk up to your max weight and crush, pinch, squat, deadlift, and bench it?

Yes. It might be relative to what I am doing at any given time. For instance I wake up anywhere between 5:30am to 6am. I get up, out of bed, do my typical bathroom duties (toilet, brush my teeth, and so on). Then I either walk into my garage and hit the power rack (no weights). Pull-ups (many variation and tools I use), dips, and bunch of other exercises. I am planning to start doing weighted pull-ups again just want my elbows to get used to my bodyweight before I start introducing weights to it. On other days I might get up, do my bathroom duties again (same routine previously listed), bang out burpees and/or session on the Airdyne, and so on.

I haven't benched or squat for quite some time. I converted to bodyweight exercises; I like them more and some body parts are responding better to them. However, when I hit the gym I can't ignore dumbbells: LOVE THEM! Especially with fat gripz on them. Love it!!! Did I say love it? I have to bang out dips, core exercises, and no matter what I have to include a pull-up routine even if it is towel pull-ups as a finisher.

I had no clue you were only doing body weight stuff. I guess warm ups aren't as important for those since you are lifting such a low proportion of your max. People usually do high reps with those. The chances of getting injured are much lower.

[speedy]

I had no clue you were only doing body weight stuff. I guess warm ups aren't as important for those since you are lifting such a low proportion of your max. People usually do high reps with those. The chances of getting injured are much lower.

Yes and no. The thing that many (not saying you) don't realize is that when it starts to get easier you can adjust leverage or/and add weight or/and do a harder variation. Gymnasts speak volumes of what you can accomplish and it takes years for them to even get to a level to compete.

[paul valpreda]

If someone at work asks me to help lift a heavy object, I do not perform several "light" sets of the same movement prior to assisting with the lift. I'll just stop what I'm doing and help lift the object. Sometimes a warm-up may not be necessary even when performing a heavy "single."

[Chez]

I had no clue you were only doing body weight stuff. I guess warm ups aren't as important for those since you are lifting such a low proportion of your max. People usually do high reps with those. The chances of getting injured are much lower.

Yes and no. The thing that many (not saying you) don't realize is that when it starts to get easier you can adjust leverage or/and add weight or/and do a harder variation. Gymnasts speak volumes of what you can accomplish and it takes years for them to even get to a level to compete.

If you are adding weight can it really be called a body weight exercise at that point. Wouldn't someone normally warm up with body weight and then add weight. Same concept to starting off with low weight on a free weight exercise like the bench press.

[Chez]

If someone at work asks me to help lift a heavy object, I do not perform several "light" sets of the same movement prior to assisting with the lift. I'll just stop what I'm doing and help lift the object. Sometimes a warm-up may not be necessary even when performing a heavy "single."

Sometimes in real life situations there is no time to warm up like the example you just listed, but that doesn't mean warming up doesn't prevent injury. Think of how often people throw out their back lifting an object in everyday life.

[jchapman]

A lot of people perform bodyweight exercises as part of their warmup.

[Chez]

A lot of people perform bodyweight exercises as part of their warmup.

Yep, I have used push ups as a warm up to the bench press. Its pretty common.

[speedy]

If you are adding weight can it really be called a body weight exercise at that point. Wouldn't someone normally warm up with body weight and then add weight. Same concept to starting off with low weight on a free weight exercise like the bench press.

Technically no! BUT it also depends on your reason for it and it's really nothing more than tool to achieve a goal. All my workouts are designed by love, interest, and most important a goal. So take a goal that I had many years ago to do 10 pull-ups at full ROM NO KIPPING each rep from a dead-hang. I kept maxing out at 8 and it was pissing me off. So I researched and between what I read I developed an idea of adding weight. Well first I went too much too fast and hurt myself. So I let myself heal, and re-attacked it slower, with adding 5lbs every weeks and doing at least 3 days a week of pull-ups with weight. By the time I reached 50lbs attached to my existing bodweight which is over 200lbs I went in one day completely fresh, NO WARMUP and banged out 10 pull-ups w/out weight. So call it and see it how you want. In the end I have nothing against weighted exercises, I just prefer bodyweight. But I do use weights as a tool to reach a goal or just for the love it like dumbbells. I will pick one-arm bench with a dumbbell than a barbell any day of the week. The reasons is I feel I achieve more towards my goal and it also works the core more versus when I use a barbell.

Sometimes in real life situations there is no time to warm up like the example you just listed, but that doesn't mean warming up doesn't prevent injury. Think of how often people throw out their back lifting an object in everyday life.

Also, throwing ones back out could also be one of many:

1. Trying to do more than you can handle.

2. This is most common in real-life and deadlifts: BAD FORM!!!

3. Not ready for it which basically matches #1 and reasons I am not thinking of.

A lot of people perform bodyweight exercises as part of their warmup.

Yep, I have used push ups as a warm up to the bench press. Its pretty common.

Try planche pushups. I am far from that level. Those are hard!

Edited June 26, 2013 by speedy

[Wayne]

I had no clue you were only doing body weight stuff. I guess warm ups aren't as important for those since you are lifting such a low proportion of your max. People usually do high reps with those. The chances of getting injured are much lower.

Yes and no. The thing that many (not saying you) don't realize is that when it starts to get easier you can adjust leverage or/and add weight or/and do a harder variation. Gymnasts speak volumes of what you can accomplish and it takes years for them to even get to a level to compete.

Not only do Gymnasts warm up but they also peak at a very young age compared to most sports.

How old are you, speedy? If you don't mind me asking

[speedy]

I had no clue you were only doing body weight stuff. I guess warm ups aren't as important for those since you are lifting such a low proportion of your max. People usually do high reps with those. The chances of getting injured are much lower.

Yes and no. The thing that many (not saying you) don't realize is that when it starts to get easier you can adjust leverage or/and add weight or/and do a harder variation. Gymnasts speak volumes of what you can accomplish and it takes years for them to even get to a level to compete.

Not only do Gymnasts warm up but they also peak at a very young age compared to most sports.

How old are you, speedy? If you don't mind me asking

Cough cough...39..cough cough. But I think you are mixing two of my points. I was using gymnasts to use one of many examples of how hard exercises can be for bodyweight. I can provide other examples: Planche Pushup. Was not saying they don't warm-up.

Edited June 26, 2013 by speedy

[Chez]

I'll admit I don't do much body weight stuff. It gets pretty tough when you weigh 260 lbs . Its just not my goal. If something works for you, keep doing it. I just know must people warm up and its very beneficial. It may be a different type of warm up for someone training mostly body weight type lifts. Maybe its more stretching etc...

[speedy]

I'll admit I don't do much body weight stuff. It gets pretty tough when you weigh 260 lbs . Its just not my goal. If something works for you, keep doing it. I just know must people warm up and its very beneficial. It may be a different type of warm up for someone training mostly body weight type lifts. Maybe its more stretching etc...

I hear ya; I am no small guy. I actually got into the BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE doing boxing. 6 months of that and I looked in the mirror one day and went "Who is that sexy thing."

I miss that gym. I get the feeling I opened up a can of worms with this whole warm-up thing/post.

[jchapman]

If you are doing bodyweight exercises for your main workout, you probably are not in need of much of a warmup. It depends on your training status. The first thing I do when I walk down to the basement to train is 3 x 12 pullups--to warm up the shoulder girdle. Then I do some reverse lunges, KB swings, and foam rolling. Then I am ready to warm up specifically on the barbell exercise I will be doing that day. If I was only going to be doing bodyweight exercises, then do I really need to warmup, considering what I normally do for a warmup?