Hi everyone,
After some inquiries and requests, I decided to record my warm up routine. I don’t need to highlight the importance of warming up before taking part in any workout, let alone an intense one, or indeed one with added resistance such as kettlebells. The whole point of a warm up is to loosen and release tension in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, allowing full range of motion therefore reducing the chance of injury. If you happen to have an area that maybe was injured before, is weaker, or just is more prone to injury (due to arthritis for example) then I would recommend adding extra warm up exercises for that area. Don’t take away from the rest of the warm up, but spend special attention on that vulnerable area.
My warm up is pretty straight forward and there is nothing really that special about it, but it does do a very good job of warming me up nicely for whatever lies ahead. The warm up took just over 10 minutes to complete and it consists of about 15 different exercises/movements.
The warm up exercises are:
- Neck Up and Downs (keep tongue touching the roof of the mouth when looking up and tuck the chin to the chest on the way down) 15-20 reps total
- Neck Ear to Shoulder (try not to shrug) x 20 reps total
- Neck Side to Side (do not move your upper body, just the neck) x 20 reps total
- Shoulder Rotations Forward then Backward x 20 reps total
- Chest Opener x 12 – 15 reps
- Jumping Jacks x 30 seconds
- Body weight Squats x 20 reps
- Hip, glute, hamstring and hip flexor warm up (don’t know the name) x 8 -10 reps total
- More Body weight Squats x 20 reps
- Sumo Hamstring Squat x 10 reps
- Forward Lunge and Touch x 12 reps total
- Back Extension to Hip Flex x 10 reps
- Kettlebell Halos x 15 reps each direction
- Two Handed Kettlebell Swings (light weight) 2 sets of 30 seconds
So there you have a great choice of exercises to include in your warm up. Warm ups are also a great way to mentally prepare yourself for the workout ahead.
I will be back soon with a new workout and also I will be filming a cool down video to show you what I do to stretch out at the end. So for now, I will see you all soon.
Cheers
Marianne
I’m heavy chested and I would like to know are there alternatives to jumping jacks and other heavy jumping exercises I can do as an alternative?
You could do Plank jacks or just something like lateral lunges 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Marianne,
I really appreciate all the time, effort, and creativity you put into your workouts and videos. Thank you!
PS- I think the glute, hamstring, hip flexor stretch is called a runners lunge 🙂
I rushed through this warm up the other day (doh!!) and I forgot to do my glute warm ups. I didn’t notice anything untoward until I attempted my glute bridge set and all I could feel was my lower back doing all the work =(
Lesson learned.
Fantastic Warm Up , Thank You
I love your website. I have to admit, I hardly ever warm-up. But, due to your site, I will definitely include a 10 minute work out from now on. Your cat is so cute!
Well, if you want to warm up with style, you can always do some funky dancing like I did in my last workout LOL! If it gets you fired up and prepared to train, then it counts as a warm up 😉 Have fun!
Very helpful video (and site)! Marianne, I just adore your cat! Sooo cute!! =D
I love the variety this site has, the ability to as a beginner find the information I need. This warm up looks like a work out!! I’m going to try your beginner routine after a few more looks at form to make sure I’m not hurting my back. Thank you for the explanation on the swings!! I was squatting too much on my first attempt.
Hey Jenny, Glad you are finding what you need here. Just take your time through the exercises and feel comfortable with your form before putting them into a timed or interval workout. Even do the same for the warm up exercises and slow everything down, allowing yourself to recover in between 🙂
Welcome to myomyfitness.com 🙂
Having turned 40 and being overweight I was looking for something online that gives me all the information I need to get me started on a progressive workout regime.
This site is FANTASTIC!!!
The only problem is….I was knackered after the warmup!!!!!
…I’m sure it will get easier 🙂
It’s great thar you’re gettin started Steve. And, it will get easier 😀
I’m with Steve on this one! 😉
MAN! Am I outta shape! I just turned 46 and heard about kettlebell exercises from the 4-hour Body (already lost 30lbs just from following the diet) and saw your stuff on YouTube. They look challenging but more fun than other types of workouts. Plus, I want to build strength, flexibility and become more lean. I was psyched to start, but thought I’d better find a video of how to warm-up. I was okay until I got to #8 and only on the 2nd set I started to get NAUSEOUS. From then on, I could only do half of the reps. I skipped the last two with the kettlebell since I only have a 35lb one (16kg, I think) and didn’t wanna try those things with one that heavy my first time out. Plus, considering I got nauseous halfway through just with body weight stuff, didn’t wanna add anything more until I can do these comfortably. Ugh, it’s a bit frustrating, but I know I have to take it slow. I just feel a bit terrible when I can even finish a 10 min WARM UP.
Go you! We all have to start somewhere with these. You’ll see a difference after a few weeks 🙂 Try to have fun with it.
Hi Marianne! Thanks for your warmup video. Will you still be posting your cool down video?
Hi Roxanne, yes I still intend on doing a cool down video – it’s one of those “in the pipeline” vids LOL, but I haven’t forgotten 😀