Warm up before leg training. Proper warm-up exercises

14.03.2017

The squat is a basic exercise that perfectly works the muscles of the legs and buttocks. It plays an important role in women's strength training and can also be done for weight loss. When performed correctly, a squat provides load to many muscles at once.

Girls can be advised to do it in the gym, but you can do the squat at home. There is no need to be afraid of barbells and dumbbells when performing a squat - they will help you create elastic muscles buttocks and always look fit and young. You can perform a squat in different ways, it can be a classic low squat with a small barbell, a squat performed in a Smith machine, a wide and deep squat(plie variation), frontal view of the squat, squat with dumbbells and others. Correct technique performing a squat necessarily includes a warm-up.

Warm-up

Squat down as deeply as possible, then jump up. Repeat this 10-15 times, after which you can run in place or on a treadmill for 5-7 minutes and start squatting. This warm-up will warm up the muscles of the buttocks. If the weights when performing a squat are already quite large, you need to squat several times with fewer weights or an empty bar before doing it.

Correct squat technique

How to do a squat for beginners? You don't need a barbell or squat rack to learn this. Take something very light instead of a bar and you can hone your technique, and this is the key successful training, strengthening the buttocks and losing weight.

To begin, you need to stand up straight with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart, providing support. The feet should be turned slightly to the side. You need to keep your back straight, and you shouldn’t try to strain it too much, straightening it unnaturally. It just needs to be level. Look forward, you can look up a little.

The squat rack should be in front of you. Take the bar from it and place it on your shoulders as comfortably as possible so that you can feel the emphasis. When learning the technique, as well as performing a squat with an empty bar, you can do without a stand and bar, and keep your hands in front of you. Special advice for women: since placing the barbell for girls on the upper trapezoids is often uncomfortable, you can slightly turn your chest and shoulders. As a result, these muscle bundles will relax and form a soft cushion for the bar.

After this, you can begin to perform a squat, guided by the following instructions:

You need to look slightly up all the time, this will allow you to maintain a correctly aligned back. During the exercise, you should never look away to the side or even down.
At the same time, you need to watch your posture, the main thing is that there is no hump.
As you go down, be sure to move your buttocks back.
You need to breathe as follows: gradually while performing a full squat, inhale, and while doing the lift, exhale.
The feet should be pressed against the floor with their entire surface, because good support is important. Heels should not be lifted off the floor.
The knees should diverge slightly to the side; bringing them closer is a gross mistake. But at the same time over the line thumbs they shouldn't go out.

The classic full squat is performed until your thighs are parallel to the floor, after which you also rise smoothly. In this case, you must follow all the same rules as when going down. After the squat, rest for 5-10 minutes before performing another exercise.

What muscles work during a squat?

This exercise targets the hip rotators, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius. The lower legs are stabilized by the ankle muscles as well as the calf muscles. The muscles of the body also work - the muscles of the abdomen, lower back, and also those responsible for straightening the spine. This complex effect causes a significant consumption of calories, which is very good for women losing weight. The benefits are undeniable - doing squats (either in the gym or at home) is recommended for all girls.

Types of squats for girls

Classical. This option is described in the instructions above; it is the most common.
Sumo (wide plie). This squat is distinguished by a wide stance of the legs (like sumo wrestlers). This allows you to work the muscles of the inner thigh more strongly, even with less weight. Another feature of the plie is that the pelvis almost does not move back when performing it.
Frontal option. The front squat is different in that the barbell is held on the chest with arms folded crosswise. It can be performed with light weights, without racks and at home. It is very good to perform it for weight loss with minimal load, but in a large number of repetitions.
Incomplete. This squat is not performed to parallel. It is less effective for the buttocks, but is suitable for women with problems with the knee joints.
Narrow squat. Unlike plie, here the legs are placed narrower than in the classic version. With this squat, you can take more weight with less amplitude, which can give impetus to the development of the leg muscles.
In the Smith machine. The squat performed in the Smith machine is different in that the barbell in this machine moves up and down along guides. Exercises in this form are much safer, but with it the stabilizer muscles do not work, so the load is less. This option is worse for losing weight, but for developing the muscles of the buttocks it is good.
Squat with dumbbells. Great for training at home. Racks for this option are also not needed. When doing this, keep the dumbbells in your lowered hands, so you don’t have to raise them.

Types of squats

Squat depth

What depends on the depth of squats? First of all, this changes the load on the muscles. If you want to work your butt muscles, do a deep squat. In this case, the load will be higher. When performing a deep, correct squat with a barbell, you can use lighter weights. An incomplete classic squat will protect your knees from injury; it is also suitable for girls who do not want to have an overdeveloped butt.

What to expect after a squat?

When doing squats, girls sometimes notice nausea. This is typical only for heavy sets. At large scales, in which nausea is felt, insurance on the squat being performed becomes important. As an option, you can perform heavy squats in a separate Smith machine.

If the muscles of your legs and buttocks hurt the first time after a squat, this is normal. Over time they adapt. But if your knees hurt, then it is better to use bandages for the squat, and reduce its depth.

How to replace a squat?

If you are unable to squat, you can try lunges with dumbbells. Squats and dumbbell lunges are exercises that are close to each other in effect. Another suitable option is the leg press in a machine, but you should understand that better than squats there is still nothing for the legs and buttocks.

Home Squat Program

The squat is an energy-consuming exercise. It is worth training once or twice a week using a split program. different groups muscles. But if you are doing it for weight loss, you can include it in round-robin program workouts 3 times a week. Optimal training squats for a beginner - 10-12 repetitions (3-4 sets). At first, don’t think about how to increase your squat, focus on your technique. After a while, seeing the first results, gradually increase the load - more repetitions and more approaches.

Program for training at home without a bar or with light weights

For best results, stick to proper diet. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the BUCH nutrition system and the body drying program for girls.

A vigorous warm-up before training will fully prepare your body for the load. Warm-up exercises are designed to increase your heart rate, increase blood circulation in your muscles, and promote lubrication in your joints. This will allow you to protect yourself from injury and achieve maximum results.

Dynamics instead of statics

Starting position: Stand straight with your feet wider than shoulder width and extend your arms toward the ceiling. The neck should be relaxed, keep your head straight, look straight ahead.

Execution: lean down, lowering your arms and body in an arc. with your hands between your legs as far as you can. Do not lift your heels off the floor. Straighten up and return to standing position.

Tempo: low.

Back lunges and upward stretches

Warm up: shoulders, buttocks, quadriceps, back surface hips

Starting position: Stand straight, hands on hips, feet together.

Execution: do it long stride back with one leg and place your toes on the floor. Lower yourself down by bending both legs and extending your arms up toward the ceiling. The angle at the knee joints should be 90 degrees. The back knee of the leg does not touch the floor or, in extreme cases, falls on it very gently. The weight should be on the front leg. Return to i. n. in one movement.

Tempo: low.

Warm up: rectus and oblique abdominal muscles, back muscles.

Starting position: stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, arms out to the sides at shoulder level parallel to the floor, palms up. Look straight ahead. Tighten up.

Execution: Having fixed your head, hips and legs, turn your shoulders to the side so that one hand is in front and the other behind. Take a short break and return to IP. Repeat on the other side.

Tempo: low.

Warm up: abdominal Press.

Starting position: lie on your back, stretch your arms above your head, straight legs together. Raise your head a few centimeters from the floor.

Execution: using the force of the abdominal muscles, lift yourself up into sitting position, simultaneously bending your legs and placing your feet on the floor. In the top position, your arms should be extended in front of you. Unbend and carefully return to the floor. Don't hit your head on the floor.

Bend while lying on stomach

Warm up: back muscles,...

Starting position: lie on the floor on your stomach, keep your arms and head a few centimeters from the floor. Keep your head straight, your gaze directed downwards, your abdominal muscles tense.

Execution: Lift your chest off the floor as high as you can and spread your arms out to the sides as if you were flying. Return to i.p.

Tempo: low to moderate.

Warm up: legs, buttocks, shoulders.

Starting position: place your feet slightly wider than your pelvis, lower your arms down to your sides.

Execution: squat until a right angle is formed in the knee joints (hips are parallel to the floor). At the lowest point, bend your elbows and bring them forward. Jump up from this position, stretch your arms towards the ceiling. Land softly, not lightly bent legs and go into the next squat.

Pace: moderate.

Starting position: take a lying position, place your arms wide and turn your elbows to the sides, feet together. The head is in line with the spine, the gaze is directed downward.

Execution: bend your elbows to a right angle, making sure that there is no arch in your lower back. Return to i.p. straightening your arms.

Windmill

Warm up: abdominals, back.

Starting position: stand with your legs wide, spread your arms parallel to the floor, keep your head straight, tighten your abdominal muscles.

Execution: lean forward with a straight back and reach right hand to the left leg. Return to the starting position, then repeat the movement in the other direction.

Pace: moderate to fast.

Warm up: muscles that adduct and abduct the hips, quadriceps, back of the thighs, buttocks, calves.

Starting position: place your feet narrower than your shoulders, slightly bend your knees and tilt your body forward, keep your head straight. Bend your arms at the elbows and fix them, tighten your abs.

Execution: With a springy movement, straighten your knees and move one leg to the side. It should work easy jump. At the top point, bring your arms forward. Land with your legs slightly bent. Jump from side to side repeating the movement.

Pace: moderate.

Warms up: the whole body.

Starting position: stand straight, bend your elbows.

Execution: Run in place, raising your knees high for 10 steps. Help yourself with your hands by moving them back and forth.

Pace: moderate to fast.

Jumps

Warms up: the whole body.

Starting position: stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Tighten your abs.

Execution: Jump for each step, landing on the same foot you used to push off the floor. Next step and jump onto the other foot. Help yourself with your hands, moving your elbows in the opposite direction to your legs.

Pace: moderate to fast.

Number of repetitions

Of course, you will wonder how many repetitions to do for each exercise. For convenience, here is the following table:

So there you have it ready-made program for dynamic warm-up. Use it, put it into practice. We will be glad if you write to us about your impressions in the comments to this article. Good luck!

Anton Simonov

Health depends much more on our habits and nutrition than on the art of medicine.

Content

Any quality workout is preceded by a set of warm-up exercises. By gradually warming up your muscles, you prepare your body for the load, so it does not experience enormous stress. Be sure to do a warm-up, and then physical exercise will be beneficial.

How to properly warm up before training

This activity helps to gently speed up blood circulation, expand the range of motion of joints, and prevent injuries. How to properly warm up before training:

Follow simple exercises.
Allow 10-15 minutes to warm up. If you practice in a cool room, you can increase the duration of this stage.
Start working through top part body, gradually falling down.
Warming up before training at home should be done at a leisurely pace, but sufficient to warm up the muscles.

Main types of exercises

Warm-up before training your legs, arms, abdomen and back includes extremely simple exercises - various rotations, twisting, squats, bending, push-ups. Good way quickly and effectively warm up - run. You need to start with a leisurely walk, then increase the pace, and in the last 7-10 minutes of warming up, switch to jogging. average speed. You will use the maximum amount of muscle tissue, make your heart work faster, and speed up blood circulation. After such a warm-up before training at home, the body will be ready for a more serious load.

General warm-up

Warm-up exercises before training can be combined into the following groups:

Universal. Relevant before any physical activity. Such complexes are carried out on school lessons physical education, so everyone knows them. The warm-up begins with turns and tilts of the head, then you need to move on to working out the shoulder girdle, arms, torso, hips, knees, and ankles. The final stage of preparation is breathing exercises.
Special. The main difference before universal program– maximum warming up of the muscles that will work intensively during training. If this power load, tasks from the main complex are performed, but without burden.

At home, you can warm up like this: jumping rope, walking at a fast pace with your knees high, going up and down the stairs. If you're going to train your abs, spin a hula hoop. Before a long run, it is important to do one set of lunges, squats, push-ups, and bends. Pull your thighs calf muscles, be sure to rotate your knee joints and ankles.

Joint warm-up

This type of training helps to activate joints, tendons and ligaments, improves their mobility, coordination, and works the periarticular muscles. Often the complex acts as a full-fledged workout, it is so effective. It should be performed at home before strength training, fitness, yoga, or cardio exercise. What exercises to warm up the muscles before training are included in this complex? Examples:

Tilt your head back and forth, left and right. Head rotation.
Lateral tilts of the body.
Stretch your arms up and to the sides.
Rotations of the shoulders, forearms, hands, chest.
Twisting the body, rotating the pelvis, turning the legs.
Lifting, bending-extension of legs at the knees.
Ankle rotations.
Calf raises.

Stretching before exercise

Harmonious weight loss and improvement of body shape at home is only possible if you implement comprehensive program. Stretching is not the last place in this matter. It is often recommended to do it after sports activity, but this type of activity is also good as a warm-up before training at home. For exercises to produce results, they must be performed with a certain amplitude. If muscle tissue is poorly warmed up and stretched, there is a high probability of injury.

Before stretching, you need to perform a small set of warm-up movements. Everything needs to be done smoothly, pain should not be allowed. The feeling should be comfortable. After correct stretching A pleasant warmth spreads throughout the body and you don’t feel tired. If you want to do the splits, make this the goal of your main workout or cool-down. When the muscles become “hot”, perform dynamic stretching exercises:

Take the tasks from the general warm-up as a basis. When performing them at home, stay longer at the highest point and try to stretch the muscle tissue as much as possible.
If necessary, help yourself with your hands, but without effort or jerking.
Sometimes at home it is difficult to adequately assess your progress and body position, so if possible, look in the mirror. This will allow you to see the main errors.
Effective warm-up exercises for women and men - swings, rotations with legs, arms, spring lunges (can be dangerous for beginners!). Start moving in a small amplitude and gradually increase the angle of elevation.

An effective set of exercises for warming up at home

Reach excellent results is possible not only in gym. It is quite possible to get yourself in order at home, even if you live in a multi-storey building with poor sound insulation and do not have auxiliary equipment. In this case, jumping and running in the apartment are not available, but you can warm up in another way. Remember and perform the following complex:

Walking in place. Starting position: standing, arms pressed to the body, feet a short distance from each other. Walk in place at an average pace for 3-4 minutes.
Raising the knees to the level of the pelvis. Do 30 times in 30 seconds.
Squats – 15 times. Remember that your knees should not go beyond your toes; emphasis should be placed on your heels. When lowering your body, move your buttocks back and tilt your back slightly forward, keeping your spine straight.
Triceps stretch – 4-5 times on each side. Raise your arm and bend it at the elbow. Bring your forearm back. With your other hand, apply gentle pressure to your elbow, stretching the muscle.
Shoulder rotation – 12 times forward, 12 times back.
Stretching pectoral muscles– 8-10 times. Put your hands behind your back, rest your hands on your lower back. Fingers should point down. Push your pelvis slightly and chest put forward.
Stretching the back muscles – 6-8 times. Clasp your hands and place them in front of you. Round your back and reach your arms forward.
Stretching thigh muscles– 5 times with a 5-second delay. Bend your knee and lift your foot to the level of your buttocks. Hold the sock with your hand and gently stretch the muscle tissue.

Everyone has long known that before any workout you need a warm-up. Many people simply know this and that’s where it all ends. We often observe how some, even seemingly experienced athletes, begin their training immediately with a warm-up approach. Having loaded the barbell with minimal weight, they begin to perform, and for the second approach the working weight is already set. Then a time bomb is launched. Since this is far from a warm-up, such athletes sharply reduce the effectiveness of their training, and the consequences can be disastrous.

Why do a warm-up

To put it in simple, “automotive” language that is understandable to many, warming up can be compared to starting an engine. In the cold winter season, there are unlikely to be those who, without warming up the car, start abruptly, because it is known that this way the car can be quickly “killed”. And the same thing with warming up, but if a car is iron, then you still have to live in your own body for the rest of your life and it won’t be possible to replace it.

Warm-up keeps joints and muscles healthy; it is with proper warm-up and training that you can keep your body youthful for a long time and improve joint health, which will not become inflamed ahead of time. Mobility of joints, careful attitude to warming up muscles and ligaments will prevent any injuries caused by contraction and stretching muscle fibers during the exercise. In addition, the range of motion improves, because the sleepy and cold muscles are in a compressed state.

In addition, warming up gradually accelerates blood throughout the body, carefully accelerating blood circulation and pulse, which smoothly brings the body to heavy physical activity.

What consequences can happen if you don’t warm up before strength training?

Firstly, by training without warming up the muscles, you can get any injuries to bone, muscle and connective tissue. Tightening of muscles and ligaments in a cold, unheated state is a normal process, but if such muscles are immediately contracted with additional weights and, in addition, stretched, you can get at least a spasm, inflammation, and, worse, stretching and rupture, depending on the external temperature and resistance forces in the muscles.
Secondly, joints suffer. Fortunately, modern medicine has come to implantation of joints, but this cannot be called a full life. Unheated joints are a very fragile mechanism, although when warmed up they are able to overcome heavy loads. Starting a workout without including joint warm-up leads to inflammatory processes, deformation of cartilage and deterioration of joint mobility in the future.
Third, ignoring the warm-up before training at home or in the gym leads to deformation of the ligamentous apparatus, which connects muscles and joints. Ligaments are also susceptible to stiffening and stretching, so performing a load without warming up can easily injure them, and they take a very long time to heal, or even last a lifetime, just like joints.

How to properly warm up before training: warm-up plan

Any workout should start with an easy one: it could be walking, a slide. These are any exercises that warm up the body and gradually increase the heart rate without contracting the muscles, as with weight equipment and exercise machines.

Under no circumstances should you start warming up abruptly; this applies not only to the strength of extension or range of motion, but also to speed. You need to start warming up slowly, gradually increasing the pace, and then the range of movements.

The main sign that the muscles are really warm is a feeling of warmth in the muscles and sweating. When the first sweat appears, this means that the body has warmed up enough and you can start exercising.

Warm-up plan

Walk for 1-2 minutes, then increase the pace of cardio exercise, but at a moderate speed for 5 minutes.
Joint gymnastics and exercises for the whole body.
Muscle stretching.

Features of warming up in the gym before training

In the gym, the choice of warm-up methods is great: this is also a cardio zone, in which all exercise equipment is located - from exercise bikes to exercise bikes, as well as other equipment.

You can also warm up in the gym using simple equipment: sliding on slides, jumping rope, and the like.

The principle of warming up on cardio equipment is the same: starting at a slow pace, gradually increase the speed, while using the pulse sensors to hold . On average, 120-130 beats per minute is enough to warm up. Do a cardio warm-up for 5-7 minutes, then slow down to a gentle walk for the last minute.

Exercises for warming up the whole body at home

Start by walking in place, adding breathing techniques, raising your arms out to your sides.

Perform side steps, and the pace should be energetic, 1 minute is enough.

Raise your knees to your chest one at a time, as in, then at the same pace, perform heel sweeps to your buttocks.

Tilt your body to the sides alternately.

Warm up for the neck

Turn your head to the sides 5-10 times in each direction.

Bend to the sides (ear to shoulder) 5-10 times.

Make a semicircle with your head, rolling your chin over your collarbones from side to side, without throwing your head back.

Circular rotation of the arms in shoulder joints in both directions 5-10 times.

Circular movements in the elbows and hands 5-10 times.

Stretching your arms parallel to the floor with an emphasis back, palms behind your back.

Warm-up for the back

Bend your torso forward on straight legs, without rounding your back: 10-15 repetitions.

Slow twisting of the body towards the floor and back up. Gradual relaxation of all parts of the spine – 5 times.

Lock under the knees, rounding and arching the spine (similar to the “cat” exercise).

Twisting (turning) the body from side to side. Perform without sudden movements.

Leg warm-up

Circular rotation of the pelvis in one direction and the other.

Circular rotations of one leg at the hip joint on both sides. To the right and left leg, respectively.

Extension of the legs at the knee joints while holding the leg overhang.

Circular rotations ankle joints on both sides.

Bend your torso towards your straight legs while standing, holding the flexion of your hamstrings for a few seconds.

Fitness warm-up in video format

Mistakes made when warming up

Warm-up time is too short, often, 1-2 minutes is not enough to properly warm up the muscles and joints.
Only the part of the body that the athlete will load according to plan is warmed up, For example shoulder girdle. But in vain, regardless of the complex, you need to warm up the whole body.
Warm-up begins with stretching, sharp swings or twisting, and this is very traumatic. Start with cardio, only then do joint exercises and muscle stretching.
A warm-up is considered to be the first warm-up approach with a light weight. This has already been said, this is an incomplete warm-up; muscles or joints will quickly get injured from this method.

Conclusion

Another important point is that Lack of exercise brings old age closer. And it’s not a matter of age, but of mobility and health, inert and muscular systems, which even in young athletes reach the same state as many in old age. Namely: joints hurt, muscles and ligaments become tight, old injuries bother you, and cardiovascular diseases appear. Lack of respect for your own body accelerates the manifestation of all premature “troubles”. It’s easy to prevent them - don’t neglect warming up.

Joint warm-up before training is a necessary and very important part of any conscious physical activity. As many recognized experts in the field of sports say - better warm up without a workout than a workout without a warm-up. Why is that? Let's try to understand this issue and decide for ourselves whether to do it or not to do it?

What is a joint warm-up?

It is no coincidence that joint warm-up is called this way - the task of this complex is to increase blood circulation in the area of large and small joints of the body. But don’t be fooled: it’s impossible to stretch your joints without affecting your muscles. Let us remember that joints are nothing more than potentially movable joints between the bones of the skeleton, driven by the muscles of the body. Muscle- the only one that is capable of active, controlled contraction by the central nervous system.

The second point is the very poor blood supply to the joints. Connective tissues They are quite dense, their metabolism is slow, and accordingly, the production of intra-articular fluid at rest is extremely small - in fact, minimally sufficient to meet the need for “lubrication” of the articular surfaces. In order to increase the production of intra-articular fluid and, accordingly, improve the trophism of the joint, it is necessary to increase blood circulation in the area of this joint. How? By increasing the blood supply to the muscles surrounding it.

What is needed for the blood supply to the muscle to increase? That's right, make the muscle work, that is, perform an active contraction.

It should also be noted that with increased blood circulation in the joints, the saturation of the ligaments with extracellular fluid increases, due to which the elasticity of the latter increases. The same applies to tendons - the attachment points of muscle fibers to bones.

The benefits of joint warm-up

Based on the above, it is difficult to deny the unconditional advantages that an athlete receives who does not neglect this type of warm-up. Let's look at them in more detail. So, the benefits of joint warm-up before training are as follows:

During the exercises that follow the warm-up, the athlete’s joints wear out to a lesser extent - accordingly, “sports longevity” is extended. For professional athletes, and for amateurs who work out to maintain general physical health, this is an important point.
A complete joint warm-up reduces the risk of injury during exercise “here and now.” Accordingly, the likelihood of falling out of training process. This is especially true for pros during preparation for various competitions.
In preheated muscles, biochemical processes are more active, due to which the muscles are able to demonstrate a higher strength potential. The effectiveness of sports activities increases by an order of magnitude.
The neuromuscular connection (or, more simply, the connection between the brain and the muscles) becomes stronger and more perfect due to the involvement of more motor units if a non-specific warm-up is performed before the main activity. Plus, due to the same phenomenon, intermuscular coordination improves, that is, the ability of muscles to “interact” with each other, simultaneously tensing (or relaxing) to increase the energy efficiency of the effort.

@dusanpetkovic1 — adobe.stock.com

Rules for kneading joints

Now let's move on to practical recommendations on performing a complete joint warm-up. For a more complete understanding of what we have to do, let us recall that joint warm-up before training should affect all joints of our body. In this case, we will use all the muscles, thereby receiving all the benefits of this type of warm-up, which we talked about above.

Initial position

Optimal initial position during warm-up it looks like this: standing, feet shoulder-width apart, arms either hanging freely along the body or fixed on the belt. The body is relaxed. We breathe with our bellies.

@ Maksim Šmeljov — adobe.stock.com

Top down

The sequence of working out the body is important. The most commonly used sequence is top to bottom. Thus, we have a certain order of movements: neck-shoulders-elbows-hands-lumbar spine-hip joints-knee joints-ankles. Possible options:

If you are warming up before wrestling, increased attention should be paid to the cervical spine and the joints of the upper shoulder girdle.

Before “impact” training - the joints of the hand and metacarpophalangeal joints (boxing); shins, ankles, toe joints (taekwondo).

The shoulder and hip joints require increased attention when warming up in weightlifting, powerlifting, etc.

The main principle is to warm up all the joints, but focus on the most vulnerable ones or those exposed to the greatest load.

From large to small

From a physiological point of view, it would be most logical to first warm up the large joints, then move on to smaller ones - this is due to lympho- and hemodynamics: in order to remove “stagnant” venous blood and lymph from a small joint, it is necessary to free the corresponding lymphatic and hemodynamic collectors of a larger diameter, and they are located near the larger joints of the body. According to the laws of physiology, the closer the collector is to the midline of the body (and to the heart), the larger it is. Thus, in addition to the other listed benefits from joint warm-up, we get one more - facilitating the work of the heart muscle.

Other rules

All movements you make should be smooth - only in this case will you effectively use the muscles surrounding the joint being worked. In addition, sudden movements applied to unheated ligaments (and tendons too) can themselves lead to injury.

Breathing should be calm, deep and continuous. There is no need to strain, hold your breath, or exhale sharply, screaming, at least during joint warm-up. This is completely impractical. The rhythm of your breathing should speed up naturally, in sync with some acceleration in your heart rate.

You can visually see how a complete joint warm-up is carried out before training in the video:

Joint warm-up programs

Today the Internet is literally filled with different variations of joint warm-ups. Almost every more or less popular trainer or doctor has his own favorite options and methods for developing joints before training. The kung fu project warm-up, developed by the club of the same name, Norbekov’s joint warm-up, and the Radabor joint warm-up are quite well known. From each of these complexes you can take some exercises that could be useful for you.

Chinese deserves special mention joint gymnastics. Regarding this type of warm-up, it is worth saying that it is an independent type physical activity. There are quite a lot of different Chinese practices of this type, and they are undoubtedly beneficial for the health of the body.

All these practices are good, but we consider the two complexes described below to be the optimal options for joint warm-up for those involved in crossfit and fitness. This is the so-called “boxing” warm-up and mixed martial arts warm-up. We invite you to familiarize yourself with them, after which you can decide for yourself what suits you best. It is possible that you will not be satisfied with any of the proposed options. In this case, we suggest you, using the rules set out in the article, choose your own complex exercises that will be comfortable for you.

Standard exercises

Selection basic exercises for joint warm-up. Traditionally we do them from top to bottom.

"Boxing warm-up"

Run at an easy pace - 3-5 minutes.
The starting position is the same, but now rotate the shoulder joints back and forth.
Next, move on to rotating your elbow joints back and forth.
This is followed by bending the lower back back and forth; then rotate the body back and forth due to a twisting movement in the lumbar spine. Here, bends are performed with the hand touching the toe of the opposite leg.
Rotate your pelvis in a horizontal plane left and right.
Rotate your knee joints - first in both at the same time, then with each knee separately.
Make rotational movements in your ankles.
Finish your warm-up with a compound movement. This should be a different movement from toe to heel with simultaneous flexion and extension of the knees and hip joints. In this case, the elbows are lowered, there is alternate mutual rubbing of the hand, metacarpophalangeal joints, and thumb(most frequently injured areas).

Mixed martial arts warm-up

Run at an easy pace for 3-5 minutes.
Starting position: standing, feet shoulder-width apart. Perform a set of movements in cervical spine spine: flexion-extension, head tilt left-right, head rotation left-right.
The starting position is the same. Rotate your shoulder joints back and forth, then swing your arms in a circular motion with a large amplitude back and forth.
Next, work on elbow joints- Rotate them back and forth.
Switch to lumbar region: do 10 bends forward and backward, then perform the same number of body twists in both directions. Make diagonal bends with your hand touching the toe of the opposite leg.
Switch to circular rotations pelvis first in one direction, then in the other.
To develop the joints of your legs, swing your straightened leg forward, backward and to the side; rotation in the hip joint outward and inward.
Rotate your knee joints: first in both at the same time, then separately.
Switch to rotational movements in the ankles.
Change your starting position: sitting, one leg extended forward, heel on the floor, toes pointing up. The second leg is bent in knee joint, the heel lies in the groin. In this position, bend towards the straightened leg, trying to touch your toes with your fingers. Next, change the position of your legs and repeat the bends in the other direction.
The starting position is also sitting, only the legs are spread as wide as possible, the knee joints are straightened. Bend alternately towards each of your legs, then between them, trying to get your chest as close to the floor as possible.
Starting position: sitting, one leg extended to the side and lying on the floor. The second leg is bent at the knee joint, the heel touches the outer surface of the same leg gluteal muscle. Hold this position for several tens of seconds.
Starting position: sitting on the floor, knees bent, pelvis between the heels. Helping yourself with your hands, try to move your body back and (ideally) move into a lying position.
Finally, perform a complex movement: moving from toe to heel in opposite directions with simultaneous flexion and extension of the knee and hip joints. In this case, the elbows are lowered, and there is alternate mutual rubbing of the hand, metacarpophalangeal joints, and thumb joint, both on the arms and legs. The phalanx must literally be pressed by the counter movement of the foot with the floor.