Warming up your muscles before a workout improves mobility and prevents injury.
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You've heard it a million times before: The warm-up is the most important part of your workout. And unfortunately, it's typically the most neglected.
"The warm-up gives our muscles a chance to wake up before we challenge them with load," Jamie Nickerson, CPT, a Boston-based personal trainer, tells LIVESTRONG.com. "Pushing blood flow to your muscles before your workout allows them to work more efficiently when they are loaded."
Warm-ups are also vital to your muscles' mobility. Have you ever sat through a flight and your knees didn't want to move when you stood up? That's what happens to our joints when there's been little blood flow to our muscles — we get tight and stiff.
Getting our muscles ready for movement inherently means getting our joints ready. Better flexibility and range provides many benefits to our bodies, including injury prevention, better explosive performance and limited joint pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
So, how do we train our mobility and warm-up at the same time? Luckily, all you really need is a single weight. Adding load to your mobility routine allows gravity to help push you deeper into your stretch. If all you have is a single kettlebell lying around, you're in good shape to get through a proper mobility warm-up.
"The benefit of kettlebells is you really only need one, and you can do so much with it," Nickerson says. Having a light, 5- to 10-pound kettlebell is all you really need to add in a little oomph to your mobility routine.
So, try out this quick 10-minute total-body mobility circuit with a light kettlebell before your next workout.
How to Do the Workout
Perform two sets of each exercise for 45 seconds each, resting 15 seconds in between each exercise. Alternate sides where needed.
Things You'll Need
● A light kettlebell
● An exercise mat is optional but recommended
Post time: Feb-04-2023