Warming Up

Sometimes it takes a person a little longer than others to warm up pre-workout. It takes me approximately 8-10 minutes.

If you're going out for a run, a bike ride, or to the gym, don’t be too hard on yourself in the beginning. Give it some time, and eventually you will be at full throttle. It's always hard to take it easy the first couple of minutes, because you start thinking; "I'm too slow", or "I'm not getting the right calorie burn." Not true. You must start slow, to be fast! Don't speed up the warm up, take your time to let your body adjust.

Whenever I begin a work out with too much force...I tend to die off before the end, and have less energy

throughout. The first 10 minutes are always hard, all I want to do is go home and lay on my couch. I'm usually wheezing, my heart is pounding in my chest, and my muscles feel tense. Warming up is all in the head, just battling to push forward. Then all of a sudden, everything goes away and naturally I pick up the pace. The key is, letting your body decide when it's ready. From then on, I'll start to envision myself getting stronger and building endurance, while pushing beyond my walls.With a good warm up session, I know I can achieve GREAT things!

Warm Up Ideas:

• If you are taking a class at the gym, try to arrive 10 minutes before it starts to get a feel for the bike if it's spin class, or do 10 minutes on the treadmill to get your body accumulated. Warming up before classes will give you the chance to take full advantage of the teacher from beginning to end.

• Try this warm up drill:

1.) 2 minutes of walking lunges

2.) 2 minutes of straight leg kicks

3.) 2 minutes of butt kickers

4.) 1-2 minutes of quick-paced high knees

5.) 2 minutes of stretching- quads, ham stings, calves, butt, and anywhere else you feel tight

• 5 minute warm up pre-race- Do four to six 30 second bursts, working your way to a full sprint

These are great warm up strategies, that work for me, and get my heart pumping. After these drills, I'm ready to begin my work out and push my body to it's limits.

    Cheers to Being Fit N Gorgeous