
Lifting Doesn’t (Have To) Make You Bulky
Too often people avoid hitting the weights because they don’t want to look ‘bulky.’ Read this to find out how you can lift without gaining any of that unwanted bulk.
Posted by Christiana Carmichael on September 21, 2020
findyourambition September 21, 2020 11:50AM
Picture this: someone walks into a gym and immediately starts bench pressing. He throws on two plates and starts pushing out reps. Now picture a runner: she puts on her sneakers, plugs in her music, and takes off. We’ve all seen it. Maybe even done it. More often than not, we roll our eyes at the mere thought of warming up. It’s such a bore, right? Why can’t we just workout? I mean, how important can a warm-up actually be?
Remember the guy who immediately started bench pressing? Chances are he’s hurting. A small tear in the pec? ‘Nah, it’s nothing serious.’ A pinching sensation in the shoulder? ‘Probably from that old high school injury.’ Or maybe, he feels nothing at all. For now.
And the runner? She probably feels a ‘weird’ sensation in her knee that she can’t totally describe, but she’s sure it’ll just ‘go away.’ It always does. Maybe her hamstring is acting up again because sometimes ‘it just does that.’ Or maybe, just maybe, she feels nothing at all. For now.
If you’ve ever played a sport or even watched a game, meet, match, or olympic competition, you know that athletes WARM UP. It’s because their coaches are telling them to, right? Or they’re athletes so they ‘just should.’ Right? Wrong! EVERYBODY who moves their body is an athlete. Everybody who’s an athlete needs to warm up.
Now for the question that’s been sitting in the back of your mind: why? Long story short: injury prevention and long-term benefits. Still don’t think you need a warm-up? Think again.
1. To Increase Our Core Body Temperature: A warmer body means warmer muscles. Warmer muscles are able to perform movements with ease. They contract and relax more comfortably, reducing the chance of injury.
A warmer body also means warmer blood. The warmer your blood is, the less oxygen it can hold. Where does this oxygen go when it’s not in your blood? Your muscles! From there, it is converted into energy which keeps you going for longer.
2. To Reduce Muscle Viscosity: Do your muscles ever feel sluggish when you first start moving? This is likely due to muscle viscosity. Or, plainly put, muscle stiffness. As we warm up, our muscles become lubricated, thus decreasing their viscosity and preparing to undergo the forthcoming exercise.
Just like muscles, tendons and ligaments also need to reach a lower viscosity before working out. This helps to reduce stiffness around joints, increase range of motion, and decrease the chance of quick-movement related injuries.
3. To Increase Mental Preparation: We all have days when we show up to the gym and the last thing we want to do is workout. In an effort to get our workout over with, we rush through, performing our exercises too fast or with poor form. Which, you guessed it, increases our chances of injury.
On these days especially, stretching will not only prepare your muscles for exercise, it will prepare your mind. As your body starts moving, your motivation will increase. You will begin making movements that will be mirrored in your workout, making the transition much easier. The mental warm-up is just as beneficial as the physical.
Now that we know the ‘why’ of warming up, let’s talk about the ‘how.’ In order to know how to warm up, it is mandatory to know the types of warm-ups.
1. Passive Warm-Up: This variety includes the use of an external mechanism to warm your muscles. These can include: heating pads, massage, and hot whirlpools or showers. If this method is to be used, consider its practicality first i.e. the availability of such resources in proximity to your workout location.
If you have low mobility or a physical impairment, whether temporary or chronic, this may be the way to go. If you fatigue easily, and you’re looking to avoid pre-exercise muscle fatigue, this could also be the method for you.
2. General Warm-Up: A general warm-up is just that–general. During this, you will focus on moving large muscle groups. This can include activities that stereotypically ‘get your heart rate up’ like walking, slow jogging, biking, or jumping rope.
The physical responses of a general warm-up include increased heart rate and blood flow. This, in turn, increases your muscle temperature, rate of breathing, and joint (tendon and ligament) viscosity. An obvious physical symptom for many includes light perspiration.
3. Specific Warm-Up: After the general warm-up comes the specific warm-up. It is during this that you start focusing on movements specific to your exercise or sport. This may include light plyometrics before sprinting, jogging before running, or light-weight squats before your working sets.
Specific warm-ups allow specific muscles to prepare for a workout. Think of them as practice before a competition. During a specific warm-up, your muscles and mind both begin rehearsing movements in order to maximize their potential under resistance.
Typical warm-ups may fall between 10 and 15 minutes. The more conditioned you are, the longer you may have to warm up to reap the benefits. Remember, unless you have a thermoregulatory impairment and have consulted with a doctor, you should be lightly to moderately sweating before you start your workout. Happy exercising!
“Chapter 3; Chapter 12.” NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, by Jared W. Coburn and Moh H. Malek, Human Kinetics, 2012.
Soligard T, Nilstad A, Steffen K, et alCompliance with a comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in youth footballBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2010;44:787-793
Christiana is the founder of Find Your Ambition and has a passion for helping others through personal training. She is a highly sought out fitness coach and takes pride in her ability to inspire others to reach their fitness goals.
Christiana offers new clients a free online personal training consultation through Find Your Ambition and would love to help you find your ambition!
Too often people avoid hitting the weights because they don’t want to look ‘bulky.’ Read this to find out how you can lift without gaining any of that unwanted bulk.
There’s only one thing better than pancakes – pancakes every day! Check out this recipe for the sinful pancakes that won’t ruin your diet.
Stretching…So What? If you were told to start stretching right now, what would you start with? A seated hamstring stretch? Figure-four? Or maybe you would
It doesn’t matter how hard you push during your workouts or how often your exercise. If your nutrition isn’t in check, you can kiss your goals goodbye.
We have the gluten free lovers who avoid gluten like the plague and we have the gluten free haters who swear that all gluten free food is ‘flavorless.’ So, what is gluten, really? And, should we all be avoiding it?
What happens when we stop blaming and start embracing our imperfection?