The warm up phase of a workout can often feel like a waste of time.

Try this instead…

Use your warm-up to target deficiencies or to place extra emphasis on your most desired training outcome.

Is your primary goal to lose weight? Rather than do a random assortment of “mobility” drills, spend 15 minutes on the bike driving your heart rate up. By doing this, your heart rate is more likely to stay elevated during the workout and subsequently this will produce a greater metabolic effect.

Is your primary goal to increase linear speed? Rather than hop on the bike, jump right into low level sprint mechanic drills and hip/core activation.

If you want to improve your balance, put together a 5-10 minute routine working on single leg stability.

If you just want to maintain your overall health, then a balanced 10-15 minute warm up of dynamic mobility, light stretching, and bodyweight exercises to increase your heart rate will hit the spot.

You get the point…

Often times the warm-up phase of a workout can feel like a necessary “to-do” before the real stuff. But, if you tailor your warm-up to target your primary goal(s), not only will you maximize efficiency, but you’ll also ensure that you are prioritizing your big rocks each and every workout. If all else fails, you’ll come away knowing that you allocated time to exercises that will yield the greatest return for your given goal.

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