What do I do for my warm up routine?

Warm-up routines can be found before the start of each workout. 

Part 1: 5-10 minutes of Cardio (optional) 

If you’ve been sitting quite a bit before your workout or you live somewhere cold, we’d highly recommend having some light cardio at the beginning of your warm up to get blood flowing to your muscles, especially if it’s specific to the muscle groups you’ll be training that day.

Options like walking, jogging, rowing, cycling, or even an elliptical machine are all great options!

Part 2: 5-10 minutes of Dynamic Stretching 

For full body workouts, you’ll want to do a combination of upper and lower body dynamic stretches, whereas if you’re doing upper body or lower body only movements, you’ll want to include those only.

Here are some examples that you can follow:

Upper Body Dynamic Stretches 
 

Exercise	Reps	Purpose	Execution
Arm Circles	5 each direction	To loosen up arms & shoulders.	Swing your arms in one direction for 5 reps and then the opposite direction.
Band over-and-backs	5 reps	To loosen up chest & shoulders.	Grab your Built With Science all in one band with a wide overhand grip and bring the band over and behind your body. Use a narrower grip for a deeper stretch.
Band pull-aparts	10 reps	To activate mid-back muscles	Grab your Built With Science all in one band with an overhand grip shoulder width apart, and use your mid back muscles to pull the band apart
Band external rotations	10 reps each side	To warm-up rotator cuff muscles.	Wrap your Built With Science band around a fixture, take a few steps beside it, and grab it with the opposite hand. Lock your elbow and then rotate your hands outward and then back in. Do 10 reps on one side then switch to the other side. You can do these with a cable instead if needed.
Weighted external rotations	10 reps each side	To warm-up rotator cuff muscles.	Grab a light weight plate or light dumbbell, bring your arm up to shoulder height and bend your elbow to 90 degrees. While keeping your elbow locked in place, rotate your hand towards the ceiling and back down. Do 10 reps on one side then switch to the other side.

Lower Body Dynamic Stretches

Exercise	Reps	Purpose	Execution
Forward Leg Swings	5 each side	To mobilize and warm up the hips and leg muscles.	Keep your core tight and hold onto something beside you. Swing your leg front and back as far as your leg will go. Do 5 reps on one leg then switch to the other leg.
Side Leg Swings	5 reps each side	To mobilize and warm up the hips and leg muscles.	Keep your core tight and hold onto something beside you. Swing your leg side to side as far as your leg will go. Do 5 reps on one leg then switch to the other leg.
Deep Squat	30 seconds	To mobilize the hips & ankles	Hold a weight plate in front of your chest and squat down into a deep squat. Hold this position and then rock side to side and forward to back to mobilize your ankles for a total of 30 seconds.
Dead Bug	5 reps each side	To activate core muscles	Lay on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees and arms held straight over your shoulders. Engage your core as if someone were about to punch your stomach. While keeping your low back flat on the ground, extend your opposite arm and leg back until fully straight, then bring them back to the starting position. Repeat with the other arm and leg for a total of 5 reps on each side. This exercise also has a tutorial video you can watch.

Part 3: Warm-Up Sets 

For lifts that require a bit more warm up (such as your compound lifts) because of a heavier weight & load, you’ll want to have some warm-up sets that help you to build up to your working sets. 

If you’re just beginning and aren’t sure where your working set is, don’t worry about it! This’ll be about you finding a weight that you’re comfortable with working with to start. As you increase the load over time, you’ll then want to focus more on including these warm-up sets.

Here is a general guideline you can follow:

• Set 1: 8 reps at 50% of your working weight with 1 minute rest
• Set 2: 3-4 reps at 70% of your working weight with 1 minute rest
• Set 3: 1-2 reps at 90% of your working weight with 2 minutes of rest

Part 4: 5-10 minutes of Cool Down 

This is an optional part of your routine. This can include light cardio and/or foam rolling to help work out the muscles that you just used, but it is not completely necessary.