The Workout Warm-Up You Must Try [And why warming up is important]

There is much to love about this month’s Great Fitness Experiment with Rachel Cosgrove’s book – I think all the Gym Buddies and I have spent most of the last 6 weeks in various stages of toilet sore (yes, we do actually love that feeling) and I’m still losing inches – but the one thing I don’t love is the warm-up. And judging from your e-mails lots of you don’t love it either. I’ve had more than one e-mail asking some permutation of, “Do you seriously do that warm-up? SERIOUSLY?”

Warming up is really important. Research has shown that not only do you have less injuries but that you have greater blood flow to your muscles and therefore increased strength and endurance. Ideally a warm-up should use the same muscles you are planning to use in your workout. And while stretching after your workout has been shown to have benefits, stretching before your workout can be harmful.

For the first month we – yes, seriously – did the warm-up before every weight workout because I was determined to do everything exactly as she prescribed. But this month, well, we can’t take it anymore. The warm-up itself is made up of about 10 different moves, some of them standard gym fare like jumping jacks and one-legged hops. The rest of it, however, is very…. this:

This last move I had to put in its own video because of course, it’s our favorite! We changed Rachel’s “YTWI” move to something a little more Gym Buddy approved!

After we finished our workout – this day a brutal weight lifting day in which I did 4 unassissted pistol (or piston) squats on each leg! See how strong I’m getting?! – we cooled down with our usual stretching, gossiping and… AN EPILADY. Because you guys told me to try it! There is video. Coming soon to a computer near you…