We have all heard workout advice, but a lot of it is conflicting. Do you stretch
before or after? Do you warm up at a high or low intensity? Do you do your cardio at the beginning or the end? Here’s your guide!
Warm Up
The sole purpose of your warm up is to get your body ready to move; your warm up is NOT the hard part of the workout. That said, start at a low intensity. You can increase your intensity over time, working up to a level where your heart is beating faster, you’re breathing harder and your body feelswarm. You can do this by speeding up, or increasing your resistance or incline. This warm up should be approximately 3-15minutes, depending on your fitness level, the modality you select, and your following workout. You should not feel exhausted by the time you finish; you should feel ready to go. Dynamic stretching or foam rolling can accompany this warm up routine to stretch, loosen and activate your main muscle groups. Avoid stationary stretching until the end of your workout.
Strength
It is beneficial to start with muscle activation and core work to get your body ready to move heavier weight. Band work and body weight exercises are good for this. The beginning of your workout is also a great time to drill balance.Then, select 2-5 compound movements that move multiple joints in your body at one time. Common compound movements are things like squats, bench press, rows, and deadlifts. Repeat these exercises 2-6 times. Then, select 2-5 accessory movements that move one joint at a time. Things like bicep curls or quad extensions are examples of this. Repeat these exercises 2-6 times. If you want to isolate your core at the end of your workout, after your strength exercises would be a good time. If you have weight loss goals, it would benefit you to move quickly between all of these exercises to keep your heart rate elevated throughout your workout.
Cardio
No, you’re not done yet! After your strength training and core work is when you get your cardio in. If you have weight loss goals, high intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective at mobilizing fat. If those aren’t your goals or if you dread short bursts of high intensity, moderate cardio intervals or steady state cardio can be completed after your workout for 5-30minutes. Your duration depends on your goals, intensity, and modality. The higher the intensity, the less time you have to do it for. The lower the intensity, the longer you have to work to elicit similar results as higher intensity.
Cool Down
This is where you get ready to go home. If your heart rate is still high and you’re still breathing heavy, do a couple minutes of low intensity cardio to cool your body down; opposite from your warm up. After you are cool is when you can do
stationary stretching or roll your tight muscle groups. No workout is complete
without a good hand wash. Following this template 2-5 days per week will give you a great outline to follow to meet or exceed the recommended activity guidelines previously outlined.
Sample Full Body Workout
Warm up
o 5 min elliptical
o Dynamic stretches
Activation/core
o Plank walkout
o Single leg squat
o Cat/cow transition
Compound strength
o Squat
o Bench Press
o Deadlifts
o Pull ups
Accessory strength
o Quad extension
o Hamstring curl
o Bicep curl
o Triceps extension
Cardio
o 5-30 min treadmill
Cool down
o Foam rolling
o Static stretching
If you want your own,
individualized work out plan,
schedule an appointment with
Nicole!
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