Picture this: Mary is running late, she got tied up at the office, then, to add to that, traffic was a nightmare, but she’s still going to class. She’ll only miss the warm-up, but she’ll get in the important parts, it’ll be alright.
What she doesn’t realize is just how important that warm-up is.
You see all day she has sat at her desk, doing some walking around helps keep her from getting super stiff, then she sat in the car and now she’s just going to jump into class. She might be okay for a little while doing this and depending on the movements she might not hurt something. From her daily activities, her hips are tight, upper back and shoulders are not loose, and her hamstrings are now disengaged from all the sitting. In essence, she’s a time bomb waiting for something to happen, she could strain her low back from her tight hips and disengaged hamstrings or she could hurt any part of her shoulder over compensating for her tight upper back.
The warm-up is designed to:
- Get your blood moving, usually on an Assault bike, rower, or with an easy run.
- Next, we’ll start on the stretching/moving muscle groups we’re using today, i.e. hamstrings and glutes for squats and deadlifts, or shoulders and upper back for pull-ups and overhead squats.
- Finally, we’ll tie in the movements we are hitting for the day.
So the next time you are running late, maybe run an errand and come to the next class, or hang out at the gym and do some mobility until the next class starts. Don’t just jump in– your muscles and tendons will thank you!
- 3 Star CrossFit
3 Star CrossFit 