Bill Starr, the godfather of weightlifting, wrote an amazing article in the CF Journal about the epidemic of laziness in the fitness community when it comes to proper warm up and stretching (I am no exception). Since we program the warm ups, I know that you guys have to get that done. However, how many of you make the time 10 minutes before or after class to roll, stretch, or mobilize?

Starr says the importance of warming up can’t be understated.  Besides injury prevention, a proper warm up will:

• activate the enzymes required for your body’s energy system
• deliver more oxygen to your muscles
• higher core temperatures enhance the nervous system

He says a proper warm up is broken down to three components: elevating your core temp, mobilizing for the movement(s) in the workout, and finally the ‘warm up sets’ of the prescribed lift.   We program the warm ups to benefit the gym as a whole, but some of you (and you know who you are!) have inflexibilities, mobility issues, etc that need more work.  Some have shoulder issues, others have IT band, and the list goes on.

If I told you to set aside ten minutes in your day, every day, for a month and I could guarantee you a PR in every single lift, I bet 99% of you would jump on it. However, as soon as I reveal that the 10 minutes would be spent on mobility, I bet 98% of you would check out just as quickly.   Our lifts may be complex, but our bodies were designed to perform these lifts.   However, most of us have inadvertently dedicated a good portion of our lives learning poor posture, bad form, and limited flexibility and we now have to actively spend the time undoing it all.

Here’s the deal:  if you have mobility issues that prevent you from doing the prescribed lift correctly, try to come in a little early to work on it.  Otherwise, find 10 minutes before bed, during lunch, while watching your favorite TV show, before you reach for the wii controller, or even while you wait for your Chicken Maison take out.  I promise you, the PRs will come much faster.

Post your mobility demons to comments!

Just a reminder that we’ll be participating in Barbells for Boobs tomorrow! Come dressed in your favorite pink workout clothes!  Don’t forget to register and please help raise money for a great cause!

WOD 10.22.10

Back Squat 3×5

4rds:
Every 3 minutes sprint 200m

then 4 rds:
Every 90 seconds sprint 100m