by Past Parallel

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

One of the most ignored, debated, and misunderstood topics in weightlifting is warming-up and stretching. Most lifters never stretch or thoroughly warm the muscles prior to lifting. Let's take a look at a better way to organize our lifting.

First Things First

The first thing to take place in a weight lifting session should be a warm-up. When I use the term "warm-up" I am not referring to that generic lightweight set performed before the heavier work set. A real warm-up raises the body's core temperature, makes the muscles more pliable, and should cause a slight sweat. One of the best warm-ups that can be had involves a jump rope and several minutes of jumping that rope. Simply jump rope for 1 minute followed by 1 minute of rest. Continue this 1 minute on and 1 minute off until you have completed 5 minutes or sets of jumping rope. By this time the whole body will be warm and a light sweat will most likely reside on the forehead. Now the body is ready for any type of activity. Jumping jacks, burpees, and mountain climbers would work as well. There are many options available. When choosing make sure the activity is total body and causes the body to move.

Now back to that lightweight set before your heavy work set. This is still a sound practice before really heavy sets. It would be a good idea to do a few reps of 135, and 185 before lifting 225. This type of preparatory lighter set is useful, but the lifter still needs a real, whole body warm-up first. If these two tactics are used together, the lifter will be much more resistant to injury.

Stretch it Out

Change is inevitable, but progress is not. Progress is finding a better way to do something, and this is always beneficial as far as results are concerned. A static (traditional) stretch is a waste of time, and research shows us such stretching might even be counter productive. This might seem revolutionary to some, because "That is the way we have always done it." Static stretching is the kind of stretch where you move to the point where the muscle is stretching and hold it for a given time. The body never moves in this fashion. Regardless if a person is standing, walking, jogging, running, shooting a basketball, hitting a baseball, tackling a defender, or lifting weights the body never operates in a static manner. Some really smart trainers and exercise physiologists discovered this simple bit of logic several years ago. The research and work of these talented people verified

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