Sports
Move Better,
Feel Better: Part 2
By Jonny Parr Photography by Jessie Palanca
We’re warming up for this second installment on how to get the most out of your pre-workout regimen with the pros at Absolute Fitness.
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ast month we spoke about the importance of warming up correctly and most importantly, how to do so in the most productive manner possible. We discussed three areas you should consider including: SMR (Self Myofascial Release) and Raise and Mobilization. This month we have two final areas to tackle. These include Muscle Activation and Potentiation. These terms may sound confusing and perhaps even daunting. However, I assure you this is not the case and this article will help you identify and understand all you need to know before implementing them into your warm-up routine.
1. Muscle Activation Muscle activation involves performing specific movements or exercises that increase the level of activation or stimulation in muscle groups. This is important, as it’s all too common for muscle groups to become inhibited or ‘shut down’. This usually happens due to repeated improper movements leading to faulty movement patterns and overactive muscles. Muscle activation is perhaps the most neglected area of warming up. This is hugely disappointing as correctly applying this method of training will significantly reduce any chances of injury, improve your general well-being, and improve your performance in any activity – such as specific gym exercises or sport.
Absolute Fitness trainer Shereen Hassan warms up at FIT in The W Doha with some upper back and rotator cuff movements
At Absolute Fitness, we continuously assess and monitor our clients on a weekly basis. This makes it far easier for us to identify muscle groups that clients need to pay particular attention to. In the instance of this article
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Shereen demonstrates the proper positioning for the glute bridge exercise
however, I will refer to common sites or areas that I have found most people need to address. For the lower body, this includes the glutes and for the upper body, the upper back and rotator cuffs. I will also tackle the core with specific attention being made to the abdominals. Lower Body - Glutes The simplest and best exercise to target the glutes is bridging. To perform the glute bridge, start by laying on your back with your shoulders and back of your head against the floor. You should also start with your arms by your side and weight on your heels. From this position, push your hips into the air by driving your heels through the floor and squeezing your glutes as hard as you can. Hold this position for approximately 30 seconds till you feel slight fatigue in the muscle group. Upper Body – Upper Back And Rotator Cuff At AF, our favourite method of targeting the upper back and rotator cuff is dumbbell external rotations. Put simply, you will perform the exercise for anywhere between 5-10 reps. This can also be performed by holding light dumbbells. To perform, you should retract your shoulder blades before pulling or raising your elbows.
After this time, you should rotate your upper arms so you make a 90 degree angle at both elbows before retracing these steps to the start position. Core – Abs The simplest method of activating the abs is a basic plank, or in this case a movementbased plank. Start by facing the floor with your weight on your forearms and toes. Then lean back and push your glutes in the air before returning to the start position. Make sure you squeeze your abs hard throughout the full movement. Complete for anywhere between 5-10 reps.
2. Potentiation The final phase of the warm-up involves selecting activities that excite your nervous system and significantly waking you up before your subsequent session! For the lower body, we prefer jumping variations such as regular vertical jumps, broad jumps, or box jumps for the more advanced. Simply perform two sets of three jumps but make sure you’re applying maximum effort to every jump.
For the upper body, we tend to apply medicineball throwing variations. Med-ball throws or med-ball slams are great and fun exercises to get you firing on all cylinders. Much like the lower body, we have clients simply perform two sets of three to five throws making sure each throw acquires 100% effort. To summarize, it’s time for warm-ups to be more fun and creative. The days of a standard jog followed by stretching appears to be dated. Let’s use our time in a more productive manner so our performance in all areas improves dramatically! n To learn more about the services offered by Absolute Fitness visit www.absolutefitness.me.
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