A Good Warm Up Will Help You Burn Fat – This Is Why

A good warm up will help you not only burn fat better but also improve your performance. Are you one of those who never really warms up before you workout because you don’t know what you should be doing? Today I’m going to educate you and tell you why you should start.

I’m going to be covering a lot so if you want to skip directly to the topics you have the most interest in simply click the associated link below and be taken right there.

• Is A Warm Up Important
• Why Warming Up Can Help You Burn Fat
• How To Warm Up For A Workout
• 8 Easy Exercises To Add To Your Warm Up
• Warm Up For Strength Workout
• Warm Up For Shoulder Workout
• Warm Up For Squat, Deadlift, Run Workout
• How To Join Our Program

Why You Should Warm Up Before You Workout

Getting injured, having nagging shoulder and knee pain is something nobody wants to deal with. Most injuries come from having poor mobility and not properly warming up before you workout. 

If you are a busy person I’m confident you getting to workout is a win in itself and you want to just get started because you don’t have a lot of time and you want to maximize every minute of it. If that’s you let me first offer you this:

We take all of the guesswork out of your warm ups, core work, strength training and workouts with our fitness programs so you don’t have to think about what you should be doing. 

Is A Warm Up Important Before A Workout

It really is. Depending on how much time you have available to workout it looks different for everyone and may look something like this:

You have 10 minutes to workout:

Ten minutes isn’t a lot of time to workout but it’s better than nothing! I would encourage you to start off slow and gradually pick up the pace, intensity, and effort as each minute passes. Going from getting off work, taking the kids to sporting events and then trying to squeeze in a workout by going balls to the wall may not be the best idea and do more harm than good. 

• Start off slow 
• Gradually pick up your pace
• Finish strong

You have 30 minutes to workout:

I understand you want to maximize every minute of the time you have but take just a few minutes to stretch your hips and shoulders. Most of us sit a lot and on a computer like I am right now. My back is tight, my shoulders would be rounded if I wasn’t aware of it (pulling them back as I type) and throwing yourself into a workout without warming up could put you at risk for injury. 

• Take 3 – 5 minutes to stretch your hips and shoulders, try the two videos below:

• After taking a few minutes to stretch, get your heart rate up with a warm up geared towards the movements you will be doing. If you are thinking I don’t know what I’m going to be doing you want to change that. You want to have a focus and intention on which muscle groups you are working for the day. We help people with that. 

You have 60 – 90 minutes to workout:

This is how much time Katie and I dedicate to working out each day. We follow our K2 Crossfit Program. Since we focus on strength movements like squats, deadlifts, olympic lifts, etc it’s extremely important to not only mobilize but “prime” the Central nervous system. We take five to ten minutes to:

• Mobilize the areas that are the most restricted or tight.

• Go through a warm up that is geared towards the movements you are doing for the day.

• Stretch and cool down after your workout.

Why Warming Up Can Help You Burn Fat

Have you ever heard of someone getting a “runners high” when running? You are either thinking “yes I have had that” or the complete opposite because you aren’t a runner. Regardless, here is what is going on:

When you go from nothing to working out three things happen:

1. Your heart rate goes up
2. Your level of oxygen you need to breathe in goes up
3. Your carbon dioxide levels go up and you want your body to get rid of this as quickly as possible 

Remember the “runners high” I talked about earlier? This feeling essentially is what happens when your body is able to buffer out the amount of C02 in your body. When you begin working out your blood cells metabolize glucose (energy), carbon dioxide is released into the blood and causes:

1. Increase in Carbon Dioxide & Hydrogen in the blood
2. Which results in declining your PH levels and weakens your hemoglobin-oxygen bond

What you want is the Carbon Dioxide to get from your blood, to your lungs and out as quickly as possible. Essentially this makes your muscles more fatigued than they should be. When you get a runners high your body is able to effectively lower the amount of Carbon Dioxide in your body and you are able to now breathe Oxygen better. This is huge because this allows you to burn fat better. That’s why it’s important to do a proper warm up and now we will give you some examples below 🙂

How To Warm Up For A Workout

I would encourage you to choose a few exercises and perform them in a rotating fashion performing each movement for 30 seconds for 4 minutes. Below we have given you eight easy bodyweight exercises you can pull from

You may perform this as a warm up:

• Exercise # 1 – 30 seconds

• Exercise # 2 – 30 seconds

• Exercise # 3 – 30 seconds

• Rest x 30 seconds 

Eight Easy Exercises To Warm Up Before You Start Your Workout Routine

Now that you know how to warm up for a workout choose a few exercises and perform each one for 30 seconds and get moving! Comment below with which movement you enjoy the most. 

#1 Jump Rope

#2 Jumping Jacks

#3 Alternating Step Up

#4 Quick Step Up

#5 Kettlebell Swing

#6 Mountain Climber

#7 Squat Jump

#8 Burpee

Warm Up For Strength Workout

Do this by training explosive movements like these three:

You would want to perform movements like this with very short bursts. Something like:

Three sets:

1. 10 seconds as hard as possible

2. Rest x 10 seconds

Warm Up For Shoulder Workout (Shoulder Presses, Jerks, Handstand, etc)

 Having stiff shoulders is something I know a lot about. After playing basketball for nearly 20 years (college and semi professional in the ABA) my shoulders needed a lot of work once I started lifting. 

They would always ache when I lifted. I needed to correct my motor patterns, do a ton of mobility exercises and essentially retrain my pressing movements.

Now before I do any shoulder workout I warm up with something like this:

Mobility & Shoulder Warm Up

Mobility (5 Minutes)

Warm Up & Activation (5 Minutes)

After you have completed your mobility, warm up, activation you want to begin to build in weight before getting to your first set. 

For example the piece pulled below is from our K2 Strength program offered in both our K2 Everyday Fitness Program and our K2 Crossfit Program. You wouldn’t want to just throw on 50% of your 1 rep max. 

We would want you to start with an empty barbell to master the form and then climb in weight, don’t take 5 sets to get there but maybe two or three. 

When warming up your shoulders really exaggerate the speed at which you are pressing to enforce the speed at which you will need to press at later when the barbell gets heavy.  

Strict Overhead Press

1. 5 x @ 50%
2. 5 x @ 60%
3. 5 x @ 70%
4. 3 x @ 85%
5. 3 x @ 85%
6. 3 x @ 85%
7. 10 x @ 55%

Love detail and structure like this? We have a new strength cycle starting up soon be sure to join us and sign up!

Three Exercises To Warm Up Your Shoulders

Here are three hidden gems to really warm up your shoulders:

Warm Up For Squat Workout

Warming up for Back Squat or  Front Squat is a little bit different.

The high bar Back Squat (what we train in our programs is a hip dominant exercise that requires a ton of ankle mobility and good open hips. If your hips are really tight, try this stretch.

Warming up for Back Squat or  Front Squat is a little bit different.

The high bar Back Squat (what we train in our programs is a hip dominant exercise that requires a ton of ankle mobility and good open hips. If your hips are really tight, try this stretch.

The Front Squat requires an upright torso, flexibility in the wrist, good range of motion in your lats, ankles, etc. It’s not easy to get into a front squat. But….here is what you need to do:

Mobility (5 Minutes)

Warm Up & Activation (5 Minutes)

1. Single Leg Bridge Hold

2. Banded Lateral Walk

3. Banded Clamshell

4. Side Plank Bounce

5. Banded Pallof Hold

If you are having a hard time getting your hips below your knees it’s most likely because you have poor ankle dorsiflexion and I encourage you to try this and it will take pressure off of your back:

1. Foam Roll Your Calves 

2. Stretch Your Calves 

3. Free Up Some Range Of Motion 

4. Retrain Your Squat 

*We provide proper warm ups, stretching protocols, and drills like the ones above within our training programs everyday. We care about quality movement, and training hard to help you reach your goals.

After you have completed your mobility, warm up, activation you want to begin to build in weight before getting to your first set. 

For example the piece pulled below is from our K2 Strength program offered in both our K2 Everyday Fitness Program and our K2 Crossfit Program. You wouldn’t want to just throw on 65% of your 1 rep max. 

We would want you to start with an empty barbell to master the form and then climb in weight, don’t take 5 sets to get there but maybe two or three. 

When warming up your squat really focus keeping an upright torso, screwing your feet into the floor and opening your hips. 

Take 10-12 Minutes To Complete:

Back Squat

1. 5 x @ 65%
2. 5 x @ 75%
3. 4 x @ 80%
4. 1 x @ 90%

Then complete:

Back Squat 3 x 5 @ 77.5% 

Love detail and structure like this? We have a new strength cycle starting up soon be sure to join us and sign up!

Three Exercises To Warm Up For Squat Workout

Here are three hidden gems to really warm up for squats:

Warm Up For Deadlift Workout

Deadlifts are probably one of my favorite movement patterns to master. When you master the “hinge” and do exercises such as romanian deadlifts it really opens the doors for you to keep your training fun with a lot of variety. BUT if you can’t get into a good spinal position you can really put yourself at risk for injury. 

Insert photo of rounded back versus good position

Here is an example of an exact warm up pulled from our K2 Fitness Program that you should do before you deadlift next:

Mobility (5 Minutes)

Warm Up & Activation (5 Minutes)

Complete:

1. Row x 250 meters

2. 20 x Banded Good Morning

3. 10 x Strict Pull Up 

4. Row x 200 meters

5. 20 x Kettlebell Swing

6. 5 x Strict Pull Up 

If kettlebell swings hurt your back it’s likely because you aren’t in a good position and aren’t’ squeezing your glutes. Try doing these three movements instead to learn the positions first.

After you have completed your mobility, warm up, activation you want to begin to build in weight before getting to your first set. 

For example the piece pulled below is from our K2 Strength program offered in both our K2 Everyday Fitness Program and our K2 Crossfit Program. You wouldn’t want to just throw on 65% of your 1 rep max. 

We would want you to start with an empty barbell to master the form and then climb in weight, don’t take 5 sets to get there but maybe two or three. 

When warming up your deadlift really focus on keeping the tension on the barbell, feeling tension in your hamstrings and keep your spine in a good position.

Deadlift

1. 5 x @ 65%
2. 3 x @ 75%
3. 3 x @ 77.5%
4. 2 x @ 82.5%
5. 1 x @ 85%
6. 3 sets x 3 @ 80%

Love detail and structure like this? We have a new strength cycle starting up soon be sure to join us and sign up!

Three Exercises To Warm Up For Deadlift Workout

Here are three hidden gems to really warm up for deadlifts:

Warm Up For A Running Workout

If you don’t warm up before you run you need to start. I talked earlier about how a proper warm up can help you burn fat by buffering the amount of Carbon Dioxide in your body so let me give you the tools!

A good running training program has a variety of endurance, intervals, fartlek training, sprints, etc and your run warm up needs to be tailored to each of those training modalities. 

Here is an example of an exact warm up pulled from our K2 Fitness Program for a sprint workout:

Mobility (5 Minutes)

Warm Up & Activation (5 Minutes)

Warm Up (10-15 Minutes)

Two sets of:

1. Run x 200 meters

2. Jog x 200 meters

Two sets of:

1. 30 seconds x A/B/C Skip

2. 10 x Lateral Skip

3. 10 x Single Leg Bound

Primer:

Four sets of:

1. Sprint x 20 seconds + Jog x 45 seconds

After you have completed your mobility, warm up, prime you want to begin to build in weight before getting to your first set. 

For example the piece pulled below is from our K2 Run program offered in both our K2 Everyday Fitness Program and our K2 Crossfit Program. 

Option A (Beginner & Intermediate)

Six Sets:

1. Run x 45 seconds fast
2. Run x 90 seconds faster
3. Rest x 2 minutes

Option B (Advanced)

Eight sets:

1. Run x 200 Meters @ Fast Pace
2. Run x 400 Meters @ Sprint Pace
3. Rest x 90 seconds

Workout notes: 

If you like detail and structure like this we have a new run training cycle starting up soon be sure to join us and sign up!

Conclusion

We educated you why it’s important to warm up for a workout so you can burn fat more efficiently, we talked about why it’s important to warm up. We shared with you sample warm ups to do before you squat, deadlift, work your shoulders and run.

• Ready to take your training to the next level?

• Ready to take the guesswork out of your workouts?

• Ready to get stronger? 

• Ready to get faster?

Join one of our fitness programs and get started today for as little as $1! 

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P.S.

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