I'm all about time-efficient training and to me, "normal" extended warm-ups are a HUGE waste of time.

To be clear, I'm not against warming up...I'm just against spending so much time and energy doing it that you compromise the effectiveness of the ACTUAL workout.

So to help streamline the process, I devised a very powerful method that literally SLASHES your warm-up time down to just a few minutes...and yes, i won't lie, it DOES look a bit strange.

This is the method I use for every warm-up that I do. It literally takes just about 35 seconds to complete, yet can have a big effect on the quality of the rest of your training.


Why It Works...

The first thing you need to understand about warm-ups is that one of their primary functions is to get the blood out of the abdomen. This is known as "sequestering"...your body keeps a reserve of blood in the abdomen when it's not needed for activity.

So the idea of the general warm-up is to make the blood accessible.

Most people try to accomplish this with a cardio warm-up, to "get the blood moving". Me, I prefer a more direct route that goes after this blooding pool as a major goal.

I prefer to actively squeeze the blood out of the abdomen using a squat position and the muscles of the abdomen, hips and upper body.

This two-exercise combination isometrically targets just about every major muscle group in the body in addition to getting the blood out of the abdominal cavity and ready for use. I've found this simple combo cuts my warm-up time tremendously while still giving me the benefits of the warm-up.


Here's the first technique...

Squat down and brace your elbows on the insides of your knees. Press your hands together and actively push INWARDS with your adductors (trying to push the knees together) while actively pushing OUTWARDS with the muscles of your back, basically resisting that inwards push.

At the same time, bear down on your core HARD, contracting your abs strongly.



You can imagine this as literally squeezing the blood out of your abdominal area.


Here's the second technique...

The second technique warms up the outer hips and chest, while still squeezing blood out of the core.

Set your arms out the outsides of your knees then use your abductors (the hips and gluteus medius and minimus muscles) to push OUTWARDS against your arms. Use your chest to resist that pushing by squeezing INWARDS.



Do this while squeezing the abs hard.

And yes, this does look like you're going to the bathroom...just try not to bear down so hard that you actually...well, you get the idea.

All in all, this is a very simple method for forcing blood out of the core storage and ready for the rest of the muscles to use for training...all without spending time on a cardio machine.

From this point, I go directly into some arm circles to warm up the shoulder joints a little more througly, then a light set of the first exercise I'm going to be working with. Warm-up done!

Just fyi, you may need more warming up than this and that's fine...just don't do so much that it takes up half your training time!

Definitely give these two techniques a try in conjunction with your normal warm-up. You may find you don't need to do quite as much, which is helpful for keeping your energy up for the actual workout itself.

Now, if you need a little more help loosening up, here are three more 2-minute flexibility and mobilty routines from my friend Tyler Bramlett that you can do

=> My Shoulders, Neck and Back Are Tight! I Need A Routine For My Upper Body

=> My Hips, Hamstrings And Ankles Are Tight! I Need A Routine For My Lower Body

=> My Full Body Is Always Tight! I Need A Routine That Will Loosen Up My Whole Body!

Enjoy!


Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"