In this day and age we have such busy lives and schedules that it is crucial to make the most out of our time in the gym. Many times we often forget the most important aspects of training and just go in and start throwing weights around. In the long run this causes more problems than it saves time. I get asked quite often how to get in all aspects of training with very limited time to do so. When we think about training we think about strength, conditioning, flexibility, mobility in that order when in fact it needs to be the complete opposite to stay in the game. Mobility and flexibility of the joints, muscle tissue, ligaments and tendons surrounding those joints is crucial for maintaining a healthy body that can withstand heavy loads year in and year out.
Here is a great upper body warm up that incorporates dynamic warm-ups, mobility and muscle activation to prep our shoulder girdle, thoracic spine and rotators in 5 minutes. It is a simple, quick and effective warm-up for upper body days.
Objective
To warm up and activate the muscles in the shoulder region, upper back and thoracic spine. Properly prepare our tendons, ligaments and muscle for the task to come and to improve joint integrity of the shoulder and thoracic spine.
Bodyparts Involved
Shoulder muscles including the all rotator cuff muscles, teres major and minor, rhomboids and thoracic spine.
Warm-up
1. Unilateral External Circular Rotations – 10x each arm
2. Unilateral Internal Circular Rotations – 10x each arm
3. Bilateral External Circular Rotations – 10x
4. Bilateral Internal Circular Rotations – 10x
5. Corkscrew Shoulder Twists – 20x
6. Squat Position Unilateral Thoracic Mobility Reach – 10x each side
7. Band Shoulder Dislocates – 10x
8. Band Diagonal Shoulder Dislocates – 5x each way
9. Band Pull Aparts – 10x
10. Diagonal Band Pull Aparts- 10x each way
Give this warm-up a try on your upper body days or even on a squat day if your shoulder are tight. It will help alleviate some tightness in the shoulder while squatting with a bar on your back. Many times our shoulders get just as beat up on a squat workout as they do on a bench day.
This warm up is quick and it works. If you are pressed for time it will take 5 minutes and your shoulders will feel like a million bucks
Author’s Bio
Check out Mike and his killer blog at http://www.hanleystrength.com . He has a massive free report, you better go pick it up!
It depends on who you are and what you are training for.
If you are a powerlifter, max effort means one all out rep, typically referred to as absolute strength.
If you are a bodybuilder, a max effort attempt could be a repetitive effort setdone to failure with miminal rest and with high intensity, i.e. clustering sets, doggcrapp, 5/3/1 last set, drop sets, giants sets, etc.
If you are an athlete, a maximum attempt is typically a 3-5 reps set done with 90% + 1RM (depending on the athlete). Max efforts of 1 rep are not typically done with athletes due to the risk factor and because athletics lift raw (without gear).
Even though maximal effort can mean different things depending upon who you are and what you’re training for, maximal effort means maximal effort. All out with no hesitation and no regrets. Many people aren’t ready for this. You have to truly be mentally tough. Because of the damage max efforts take on the body and mind, they take time to recover from and they must be cycled in and out of training correctly.
Regardless of your training, when you are preparing yourself for a max effort workout, it starts long before stepping into the gym.
Max Effort Preparation (Before the Gym)
Hydration – how you been drinking enough water during the last 2-3 days?
Nutrition - Are you eating regularly? Every 2-3 hours? What do the meals consist of? Good protein (chicken, fish, beef, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna), carbs (fruit, vegetables, oatmeal, rice, pasta) and good fats (walnuts, peanut butter, almond butter, avocados, fish oil)?
Rest / Recovery – have you been getting enough deep sleep? Were you hitting the foam roller and light mobility drills on your days off? Many people don’t realize the exact same exercises you use to warm up for your workout should also be used on your days off to speed up recovery!
Gym Bag – did you bring your ipod? Is it charged? Do you have your workout drink and post workout drink? Do you have your training journal? Do you have your warm-up, workout and cool down written down? Do you have your belt? Do you have your wraps?
Training Partner (this is key) - you’ll need someone there to push you to your potential. You’ll need someone to spot you! Sometimes you’re not mentally ready to hit that max effort set and the training partner is the key. Sometimes the music isn’t enough and for the sake of safety, the partner is essential.
Max Effort Preparation (At the Gym)
You know I am a HUGE proponent of the warm-up and its effects on the rest of the workout (and recovering from the workout). With a workout that the lifter will be hitting a max effort attempt, it is even more critical.
After the warm-up, the sets leading up to the maximal effort should really focus on form and continuing to prepare the muscles for the upcoming attempt(s).
BUT, they should NOT fatigue. If the prep sets are too heavy and with too much volume, you have a risk of not being ready for the max effort set(s). Again, I am saying set(s) and not set because depending upon your workout (i.e. doggcrapp and powerlifting) you might be hitting multiple max effort attempts.
Bad Warm-up Sets for Max Bench (max attempt 315lbs)
Set 1: bar x 20
Set 2: 135lbs x 10
Set 3: 185lbs x 10
Set 4: 225lbs x 8
Set 5: 275lbs x 6
Set 6: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 7: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 8: 315lbs x 1 attempt
There’s too much volume at too high of a percentage of the lifter’s max!
A better lead up to the attempts would be this example.
Set 1: bar x 20
Set 2: 135lbs x 10
Set 3: 185lbs x 8
Set 4: 225lbs x 3-6 (this one is the turning point, if they set feels really good, hit 6 reps, if you still need more prep, only hit for 3 reps, auto-regulation)
Set 5: 275lbs x 3
Set 6: 295lbs x 1
Set 7: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 8: 315lbs x 1 attempt
Set 9: 315lbs x 1 attempt
But like everything else, it is an individual thing. The above is only one example, there are many others. That is why the training journal is so important. What did your last max effort for bench look like? What was your warm-up and prep sets. You have to keep track so you can use this for your next heavy session.
Alright, so now look at the fun stuff.
The below video is Ryan hitting his last set of squats on the 5/3/1 program. The last set is done all out without leaving anything left. This is a maximal effort attempt.
A few things I want you to notice.
Where is the spotter? Right there for every rep! The spotter jumped in an gave minimal help to keep the weight moving. He didn’t pull Ryan quickly back up. He let him fight it out but he (the spotter) controlled that last rep.
Did Ryan go until the weight crushed him? No, he did all reps with good form and did not go to the point where there is no return. Max effort is max effort done safely. Remember that.
Did Ryan’s form break? No. Does form break under fatigue? Yes. That is why is so important to drill form while the weight is light so it becomes second nature.
Did you notice Ryan’s Breathing Pattern? He took a huge breath, held it and isometrically braced his abdominals outward against his belt and engaged his lats. He repeated this pattern for every rep.
Finally, a new video compilation of training here at the compound. I haven’t made one in years, but the last video compilation I made inspired so many.
Hopefully this new video will do the same. It contains some never-before-seen footage and exercises guaranteed to kick your training programs in overdrive.
As always, please click on the video itself and when it takes you to YouTube, please “LIKE” the video at the bottom left. It really helps with ranking!
In honor of AMPED Warm-up, I am re-posting two previously released articles for all of our new subscribers.
Check out this essential upper body warm-ups, how to warm-up article below.
If you’ve picked up the latest edition of Men’s Fitness, there is a big 4 week AMD workout in it. You know from all of my posts here on Diesel and if you’ve purchased this innovative muscle building system, that I’m big on full range of motion movements, a thorough warm-up, activation exercises, SMR and everything else that helps you stay healthy and move better.
It is so important as you get older and it is so important for coaches and personal trainers who are responsible for helping athletes and fitness enthusiasts.
With this in mind, I created a killer new video. Each warm-up might look like a whole lot of exercises; more than you’re used to. But as you get proficient, you’ll flow from exercise to exercise and it should not take you longer than 10 min.
In this video you’ll find 3 choices.
Three different upper body warm-up routines that you can pick and choose from for your workouts.
What To Do Next?
1. Watch the Video
2. Rate at 5 stars
3. Print out all 3 Warm-up exercise lists on this page, or in the description on the YouTube video.
Copy and paste the following into word and print it out. Take it with you to the gym.
Upper Body Warm-up Routines
Warm-Up #1
Perform 1 Run Through
1a) Jump Rope, 3 min
1b) Foam Roller, 30 seconds each area
1c) Shoulder Bridging, 10 reps each side
1d) Push-ups, 20 reps
1e) Push-up Plus, 10 reps
1f) Kneeling Reach Through, 5 each side
1g) Banded Diesel Face Pulls, 20 reps
1h) Muscle Snatches, 10 reps
Warm-Up #2
Perform 1 Run Through
1a) Jump Rope, 3 min
1b) Foam Roller, 30 seconds each area
1c) Med Ball Wall Dribbling, Left to Right, 10 times
1d) Db Laterals, 10 reps
1e) DB Flyes, 10 reps
1f) DB Raises, 10 reps
1g) DB Presses, 10 reps
1h) Banded External Rotations, 10 reps each arm
1i) Standing Rotator “Y”, 10 reps
1j) DB Lateral Drops (Activation), 15 reps
1k) Plate Extensions into Halos, 10 reps
Warm-Up #3
Perform 1 Run Through
1a) Jump Rope, 3 min
1b) Foam Roller, 30 seconds each area
1c) Lat Stretches, 5 resets each side
1d) Band Shoulder Stretches, 3 Ways, Various
1e) Hindu Push-ups, 20 reps
1f) Cable Face Pulls with External Rotation, 10 reps
1g) Cable Face Pulls, 10 reps
1h) Side Lying External DB Rotations, 10 reps each side
1i) Blackburns, 10 reps
1j) Full Range DB Laterals, 10 reps
Highly Effective Upper Body Warm-ups
PS. If you want to learn how to pull all of this together into a complete workout, guaranteed to not only build muscle and get you stronger, but also help you rehab your injuries and feel better now, check out Accelerated Muscular Development
In honor of AMPED Warm-up, I am re-posting two previously released articles for all of our new subscribers.
Check out this essential hip mobility, how to warm-up article below.
You Are Going to Get Injured.
Yes, you will.
Sooner or later, the choices you make in the weight room will lead to injury. A severe injury or something minor is in your future, trust me on that!!
But you have a choice and if you act on it, you will see immediate results.
And you must make it immediately! You must take action right now without hesitation!
Change your workout. Change it NOW!
Because I know what you’ve been doing.
You haven’t been warming up. You haven’t been doing full range of motion movements. You haven’t been raising your core temperature before touching ANY weights.
This stops now!
I am here to make your workouts better and make you feel better.
What does training do to your body?
The SAID Principle and The Principle of Progressive Overload is based upon the foundation of tension. The more tension, the more adaptation. Good or bad. You are constantly striving to create more tension and more time under tension (TUT).
Good adaptations include building muscle and strength (combination of increasing cross sectional area of the muscle fiber – sarcoplasmic hypertrophy AND an increase in the number of myosin/actin filaments (sarcomeres) inside the cell – myofibrillar hypertrophy ), improved neural efficiency, tendon / ligament density, greater work capacity, development of specific physiological qualities (dependent upon volume, load, speed, tempo, implement, application), and so on…
Bad adaptations include the consequences of the recovery from heavy and prolonged strength training. Shortening of soft-tissues, adhesions and inhibition in movement is increased dependent upon % of tension (vs. current capacity), restricted range of motion movements coupled with current mobility limitations.
What does this mean?
If you load up a ton of freaking weight, day in and day out, and only perform short range of motion movements, you’ll be walking like Frankenstein and get injured from tying your shoe and farting at the same time.
Solution? Comprehensive, systematic, consistent application of a thorough, complete and all-encompassing warm-up and mobility drills prior to and after your strength training sessions.
Think I’m lying? Think I don’t know what I’m talking about? Think you don’t have time?
Bullshit.
I have been applying these techniques this year with not only myself, but all of my athletes. We’ve gotten stronger and my chronic injuries and limitations have gone away.
Now, if your goal is to lift heavy, lift often and lift hard for a few years, then screw it – who needs mobility work. But if you want to lift for a lifetime, then you better start doing these movements.
NOW.
You don’t want to be like this dude.
Essential Hip Mobility Movements
I just posted a new video of some really good hip mobility movements. These will get your heart pumping, open up your hips, improve your flexibility and get you moving again quick.
But you have to do them on a consistent basis. I’m not just talking about before lower body day, I’m talking about all the time.
Remember the previous post I put up about hip mobility and knee rehab? It showed how to open up the hips and activate the glutes. How about the lower back rehab post? With each post we are learning more and more and building more comprehensive workouts.
Right now we are concentrating on hip mobility.
Hip Mobility Exercises in the Video
Glute Stretch into Cossack
Wall Squats
Hip Flexor Stretch (Back Leg Elevated)
Hip Flexor / Quad Stretch
Hip Flexor Stretch and Reach
Bulgarian Split Squats
Striders into Rotational Lunges
Striders into Seated Glute Stretch
Fire Hydrants
Downward Dog into Quad Squat
Cobra into Dynamic Plough
Dynamic Adductors – Level 1 (Narrow)
Dynamic Adductors – Level 2 (Wide)
Dynamic Adductors – Level 3 (Horizontal Squat)
