Prevent Injuries With 4 Of The Best Warm Up Exercises

You’re ready to go the gym, destroy those barbells with your superhuman power, drink a huge protein shake and make the floor quake as you walk? That’s motivation right there! But let’s be smart about this. As much as you want to beat all personal records in the gym, it’s important to make sure that you take care of your muscles at all times, to increase the speed of recovery and to prevent injuries. And the best way to do that is with some simple warm up exercises.

The Best Warm Up Exercises:

1. Lunge With Twist

The best warm up exercises take very little time and are effective, activating more than one muscle group in the body. The lunge with twist works your leg muscles, helps your hips become flexible and also engages your core. You can do this warm-up exercise using your body only, or you can hold a medicine ball in your hands, arms extended in front of you, as you perform the twist- just make sure it’s not very heavy because this is supposed to be a very light exercise to get you ready for the real lifts.

It’s obvious how it’s done: lunge forward on one leg, twist to one side, return to original position. Lunge forward on the other leg, twist in the other direction, and return. Do this 5-8 times to get a really good warm up for your legs and hips.

2. High Kicks

These warm up exercises help you prepare your hamstrings as well as your lower abs, and also it improve your range of motion, which is especially important if you want to benefit from a full range of motion with your squats and deadlifts.

To perform this warm up exercise extend your left arm straight out and kick your right leg up while keeping both your arm and your leg straight, so that your toes hit your palm. Do this alternating the arms and legs, and try to kick higher and higher to improve the range of motion.

3. T Push Ups

This is one of the warm up exercises that focuses on the upper body, and in particular on the shoulders, but which also activated your core for better stability in your lifting sessions. For this, do a normal pushup, and when you get to the start position, lift your right arm upwards towards the sky. This will activate the muscles in your trunk (including abs and lower back), and it will also help with your balance. Return to the pushup position, and do another pushup followed by the same movement of reaching your arm towards the sky, only this time do it with your left hand.

4. Jump Squats

Jump squats are warm up exercises that not only prepare your muscles for heavy lifting, but which also elevated your heart rate so that you get a bit of cardio in as well. This in turn ensures proper blood flow throughout your body, which can only be beneficial before a brutal workout.

To perform these, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, while holding your hands either behind your head or on the hips. Drop your hips down as you would in a normal squat, and when you return to the original position instead of rising slowly, jump up, and high in the air as you can. These movements are warm up exercises that not only work your legs, but also your abs, and which get even your lungs ready for an intense exercise.

What warm up exercises do you usually perform before your workout? Use the comments section below to share your tips and tricks with us.