Everyone should have a go-to warm-up and cool-down. When you get into the gym you should have YOUR own warmup to do before class starts. This helps personalize your own mobility and take accountability for your aches and tightness that occur on a daily basis. It just might be that your shoulder is always tight. Your don’t need a press workout to come up for you to mobilize your shoulder. You don’t need a squat workout to mobilize your hips. Get in here and take care of your selves.

Pre-workout time is devoted to warm-up (recommend 5-10 minutes, or more).  Goal here is to increase blood circulation throughout the body.  During this time, blood supply to your stomach (for digestion) is shunted to provide oxygen to the working muscles in your body.  Increased body temperature helps prevent injury to your muscles, joints and ligaments.  Stretching is performed only to “loosen-up” at this time.  Recommend a top-to-bottom approach in targeting each area.

Post-workout time is devoted to cool-down (recommend 10-15 minutes, or more).  During this time, blood is re-directed to your stomach to get the necessary nutrients for muscle repair and replenishing glycogen stores.  Now is the time for stretching to improve flexibility:  Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds, and repeat 2-3 times while alternating body parts.  Good time for SMFR (self-myofascial release) with foam rollers to release lactic acid build-up and improve ROM (range-of-motion).

The “official” CrossFit Warm-up is in the April 2003 CrossFit Journal:
3 rounds of 10-15 reps of:  Samson Stretch (do the Samson Stretch once each round for 15-30 seconds), overhead squat with broomstick, sit-up, back-extension, pull-up, dip.  Note that for a workout that’s dip or pullup-centric, you might want to do something else in the warm-up.

What is your pre and post warmup like?

The CrossFit Warmup (video)

-this is how not to warmup

Today’s Workout (Thursday, February 23, 2012)

Come to the gym and find out! Every workout is a great workout!