Doing a WOD is always a great idea. But a lot of people forget about a standard warm-up, which is really, really important.
In our article, we are going to tell you why is it important to do a CrossFit warm-up and how to do it.
Here are some warm-up ideas for you!
Why is it important to do a warm-up?
Warm-up is a short activity or exercise undertaken prior to a more intensive exercise or activity. A warm-up is intended to prepare the body for movement and increase your body temperature, including exercise, sport, dance, and stretching.
If you start your daily training without doing a warm-up before it, then you will have the opportunity to earn yourself injuries such as sprains or even something more serious if you are not very careful.
Also, if you are a typical working adult and have a sedentary lifestyle, then it is especially important for you to warm up before a serious workout. As muscles and joints that you don’t normally use are called to action, you increase the chances of hurting yourself. Also, it depends on your range of motion and sports experience.
So, let’s start our warm-up!
Types of warm-ups:
- Cardio.
- Stretching
- Running
- Movements preparations
Cardio
Cardio training is needed to raise your body temperature and increase your heart rate. Cardio can therefore also boost your mood, so you feel amped for your CrossFit workout. This is important because you need your head in the game!
Important: If you want to know how much effort you need to put in to warm up, try the speaking test. This means: If you can’t talk to someone next to you as you do cardio, you’re working too hard.
Rowing
Want to burn calories and do a seated workout? Then this cross-fit warm-up is for you.
You can try rowing on a machine, which is also working as a low-impact CrossFit warm-up for the entire body.
You can row for a specified amount of time, such as two or five minutes, distance, such as 150 meters, or calories, such as 25. Try a damper setting of 1 to 5 for a CrossFit warm-up.
Stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle’s felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion.
Also, research has shown that stretching can help improve flexibility, and, as a result, the range of motion of your joints.
Better flexibility may: Improve your performance in physical activities. Decrease your risk of injuries.
Basic types:
- The Samson stretch
- Glute stretch
- The pigeon stretch
The Samson stretch
Basically, this is a lunge, but with more pronounced movements.
What you have to do:
- Raise your arms straight above your head, step forward with one leg and bend your knee, spread your hips and focus on stretching your hip flexors.
As you get used to this position, you can do the next step.
- Bring the steps of a classic lunge into it. Feel the burn!
This stretch will help you to loosen your muscles such as arms, shoulders, back, and hip flexors.
Glute Stretch
Glute stretch uses such glutes as squats and box jumps. If you want dynamic CrossFit warm-ups, but you don’t want to exhaust your muscles, you can try doing this dynamic stretching.
What you have to do:
- Sit upright on a bench with one foot on the ground in front of you.
- Lift the other leg and place it behind the flatfoot knee.
- Lean forward slightly to feel the stretch in your gluteal muscles. Hold on for one or two minutes.
- Repeat it several times.
The pigeon stretch
What you have to do:
- Get on the plank position.
- Place one leg on the ground so that it’s perpendicular to your body.
- Shift your weight onto your front leg to bring your glutes closer to the ground.
- You should aim to hold this position for about five seconds, then repeat it with your other leg.
Do this around 3 rounds.
Running
Running does not need any equipment. Since it primarily affects the lower body, it is best to combine it with an upper-body cross-fit warm-up. This can put stress on the joints of the lower body, such as the knees and ankles. Run 250 or 400 meters at an easy pace.
How long should you run for a warm-up?
5 or 10 minutes of running is great as a light warm-up for the upper and lower body.
Movements preparation
What are movements preparing?
Movement preparation also called a dynamic CrossFit warm-up, involves moving in different directions at different speeds to help activate the tissues and the nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems responsible for controlling and fueling the movement. With this cross-fit warm-up, you can properly prepare your body for muscle activation.
In this part of the warm-up, you should perform exercises related to the workout you will be doing.
For example: if you’re focused on strength training, you should do some squats or kettlebell swings, so you can prepare your body for your CrossFit training. Also, you can try doing some air squats or overhead squats.
Examples for movements prep:
- Run
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Squats, air squats
- Kettlebell swings, kettlebell deadlifts
Now you know the basics of common and simple warm-ups. But let me show you some examples of how to use these basics.
Common CrossFit warm-up for the entire body:
Cardio: 400 m run.
Movements prep: air squats 3×12, push ups 10-15 reps.
Plank for 30 seconds.
This is a good warm-up that is usually used by fitness enthusiasts. This warm-up affects your upper body and lower body, and also it affects blood flow and core temperature.
This is a great warm-up to do without any equipment!
Lower body warm-up:
This cross-fit warm-up is perfect for WODs that focused on the lower body.
Air squats x15
Sit-ups x15
Box jumps x10
Burpees x5
Do 3 rounds.
Upper body warm-up:
Do 2 rounds: 20 or 10 seconds off for each movement.
Push-ups
Pull-ups
Kettlebell swings
Upright kettlebell row
Paradiso classic cross-fit warm-up:
This is a classic warm-up that is usually used to work your entire body. This warm-up routine should be done in 15 minutes or less.
Do 2-3 rounds of 10-15 repeats of each movement.
Sampson stretches.
Overhead squats with a PVC pipe.
GHD sit-ups. If you don’t have a GHD machine, then for a good warm-up, do regular sit-ups.
Pull-ups.
Ring dips.
Hip extensions.
Now, after we are told about types of warm-ups and how to use them, let’s talk about mistakes while doing them and how to avoid them.
Mistakes in a Crossfit warm-up
Too many or not enough exercises
The goal of the CrossFit warm-up is to increase blood flow, prevent injury, and reduce the likelihood of feeling tired during a workout, not to increase performance per se. You don’t need more than 10-15 minutes a day to warm up before each WOD. If you feel like you need more time to good warm up, then you are not warming up properly.
If you include too many exercises in your warm-up, then you will quickly run out of steam and will not be able to continue training. And if you do a too little exercise, then you will not be warmed up enough, thereby increasing the risk of injuring your body.
Therefore, it is very important to choose warm-up ideas with enough exercises in them for you.
Lifting too heavy weights
This problem is very common among CrossFit athletes who are trying to stand out and outdo themselves not only in their CrossFit workout but also in a CrossFit warm-up routine. Don’t repeat their mistakes! Believe me, health is more expensive than any record.
Lift weights that are too heavy, and you’ll be more likely to hurt your back or knees not because those lifts aren’t “functional”, but rather because they aren’t appropriate for a warm-up, especially when done with poor form.
Also, if you’re a beginner at doing it, I recommend you do CrossFit warm-ups without any equipment, so you can avoid all these problems. Instead of doing a warm-up with equipment, do a classic, but a proper warm-up.
Not focusing on what you are going to do
Your attention should be focused on the movements and lifts that you will perform in WOD. What if the workout is a barbell workout with a pure squat, front squat, back squat, and shoulder to overhead? Should I start my cross-fit warm-up with leg swings and lunges? Or should you do a quick squat and deadlift warm-up?
Think about what movements you are going to do and do the appropriate warm-up for it.
A&Qs
Question: What are ideal warm-up activities?
Answer: Of course, there are no perfect or ideal activities for CrossFit warm-ups, but here are some activities that we do recommend for your CrossFit warm-up:
- Squat / Lunge
- Push up
- Sit-ups or crunches
- Plank
- Situps
- Rope climbs
Question: What are the 15 warm-up exercises?
Answer: We prepared for you a perfect 15 exercises. Why is it perfect? Because while doing it, you can prevent an injury during a workout! Here are they:
- Marching in place while swinging your arms
- Jumping jacks
- Walking jacks
- Arm circles and shoulder shrugs
- Mountain climbers
- Swinging toe touches
- Leg swings (forward)
- Leg swings (side to side)
- Hip rotations (like stepping over a fence)
- Hip circles (like you’re hula-hooping)
- Bodyweight squats
- Push-ups
- Lunges
- Hip extensions
Question: What are 5 proper warm-up techniques?
Answer: Fast-paced walking and
- Squats.
- Run.
- Walking up and down stairs.
- Jumping rope.
- Push-ups and pull-ups
These are the most simple and proper exercises for your CrossFit warm-ups.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, I would like to say that in order to avoid getting any injuries when doing CrossFit training, you should do a small (10-15 minutes) CrossFit warm-up.
Also, when doing warm-ups, you need to stick to your level of load, and not try to bend over your head. But also avoid underloading; otherwise, there will be no benefit from the warm-up.
Important
If you want to stay injury-free, put your body through a dynamic CrossFit warm-up before you start your exercise.
I hope our article has helped you become fitter, healthier and stronger. Have fun doing a workout and try to avoid getting any injuries!
Read also: What is a cluster in Crossfit detailed step-by-step guide