Warmup and Activate to unlock the full potential of your workout!

I know a lot of people want to skip the warmup routine and get straight into their workout to save time, It can be a bit of a drag, but even a 5 to 10 minute warmup and activation can greatly benefit your performance. Don’t skip this important step! 

Below is a video for a warmup routine that I filmed from my home during lockdown in NewZealand. Gyms are now all open again here, but I know a lot of countries are still in lockdown and many people are still exercising from home.

The video is sped up but you can take your time working through these stretches. This will warm up the muscles, allow flexibility through a greater range of motion and get the blood pumping.

This is also a good routine to follow along to on your rest days if you feel tight or need some gentle movement through the body.

Apart from stretching, I like to perform 2 to 3 activation exercises before each workout. These prime the body by increasing blood flow to the muscles, as well as going through similar movement patterns that will be in your workout, and firing up the nervous system.

Resistance bands are really useful for activation and can be picked up fairly cheaply, chuck them in your gym bag so you always have them with you.

I have chosen a few drills I like to use and divided them into three categories. Upper, Lower and Core.

I recommend picking at least three exercises that relate to your workout session. Two from either the lower or upper body, depending on what muscles you will be training that day and one from the core list, as a strong core will support every other exercise.

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to step up your warmup game!, Let me know how running through a quick activation set impacted your workout, I would love to hear from you :)

Follow along on instagram for regular content and Happy training!

Sophie x