How much warm-up is necessary for weights?

[mojolisa]

How much warm-up do I really need when I'm doing weights? Lately, I've been cutting back on the warm-up when I am doing strength training. Is this okay? I notice the warm-up in the PS series is very moderate. Also, the warm-up in S&H or Power Hour sometimes starts with lifting lighter.

I always feel the need to stretch at the end of my work-out, but I don't notice much difference with reducing the warm-up at the beginning of the routine. Can I bypass the warm-up, and go straight to the routines??? This is so tempting with the wonderful chaptering on the DVDs, but I don't want to do it if that means increasing risk of injury.

Lisa

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Lisa! Skipping the warm up definitely increases the risk for injury. I wouldn't rule it out. Try to do at least 3 to 5 minutes of large muscle group movement (ie: treadmill, low impact floor movement) to increase blood flow. Another way to warm up (which I personally do not find as effective as large muscle group movement warm ups, but I do on occasion too) is to do a high rep low weight set of the first exercise that you are going to do in your workout. Say you were going to start with chest, you may just want to use one fourth of the weight you normally use for bench press and do a set of 15 to 25 light weight reps.

Take Care!