Fitness Instructors: Please take the time to film proper warm ups

[Debbie S.]

It looks like Jack LaLanne was 81 years old when he said that famous quote:
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor....html?page=all

1st paragaph:
"Jack LaLanne, fresh from a "systematic, vigorous, and violent" two-hour workout and only a few weeks shy of his 81st birthday, rose nimbly from a couch and--as if by force of some mechanized habit--struck the pose. The godfather of physical fitness stood there within a glowing nimbus of California coastal sunlight, his feet outspread, his hands clamped to his waist, his elbows pointing wide to each side."

[kitty12]

Warm up or no warm up doesn't really matter to me. As I've become more advanced I find it is less important. I kind of like workouts that build up, so maybe less intense at the beginning but not really a "warm up". And what some people think of as a warm up isn't necessarily a warm up for me. For example, I have tight adductors so moving back and forth in a wide lunge is not warming up for me!! Yet I have several DVDs that use this in the warm up. Another example, JMBR's warm ups I didn't really think of a warm up either. But I do want to warm up, I can do it on my own thing - I usually use the elliptical since I have it.

I do, though, love a good stretch segment at the end of the DVD. I wouldn't hold it against the workout if one isn't there, but if it is - I love it.

[eyefit]

"Warming Up is for Sissies

Yep that confirms it...I'm a sissy! LOL

All I know is a without a proper warm up, I get hurt. Injuries and pain ensue if I don't do some low impact moves for at least 5-10 minutes before I start doing high impact ones. I'll never forget the time I tried Toby's Max 30...he jumps right in there with the high impact and not thinking I did, too. Ouchie went my knees and ankles for several days.

I don't think it's necessary to stretch before you work out. As others have said, stretching before the workout and especially when you are cold isn't a good idea and can lead to injuries, actually.

ETA: I had no idea warming up was such a controversial idea. I knew stretching was not recommended during the warm up so much, but to wait until the end of the workout for that. However, I figured most people weren't capable of doing plyometric and high impact without easing into it first.

[hch]

Originally Posted by eyefit

All I know is a without a proper warm up, I get hurt. Injuries and pain ensue if I don't do some low impact moves for at least 5-10 minutes before I start doing high impact ones.

Aw, pain is just weakness leaving the body!

*wince*

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

[Jack LaLanne:] "Does a lion warm up when he's hungry? 'Uh-oh, here comes an antelope. Better warm up.' No! He just goes out and eats the sucker. You gotta get the blood circulating, but ****, does the lion cool down? No, he eats the sucker and goes to sleep. And that," he concluded, folding his arms into a variation of the pose, "is the truth."

If I insisted that all analogies from the animal kingdom were valid for humans, I'd be lion. Jack LaLanne wasn't known for being a raw (or live) antelopist, anyway.

As for the main thread, I agree with those who point out that DVD chaptering is a wonderful thing for options, and instructors should take advantage of it.

[cherimac]

Originally Posted by eyefit

Yep that confirms it...I'm a sissy! LOL

All I know is a without a proper warm up, I get hurt. Injuries and pain ensue if I don't do some low impact moves for at least 5-10 minutes before I start doing high impact ones. I'll never forget the time I tried Toby's Max 30...he jumps right in there with the high impact and not thinking I did, too. Ouchie went my knees and ankles for several days.

I don't think it's necessary to stretch before you work out. As others have said, stretching before the workout and especially when you are cold isn't a good idea and can lead to injuries, actually.

X2. Why not include it as a separate chapter and then you can skip it if you want to do so?

Originally Posted by eyefit

ETA: I had no idea warming up was such a controversial idea. I knew stretching was not recommended during the warm up so much, but to wait until the end of the workout for that. However, I figured most people weren't capable of doing plyometric and high impact without easing into it first.

I think it's like anything else out there. What I do is what's best for everyone. That seems to be what discussions turn into these days.

[Vintage VFer]

Although I've never done a P90X rotation, I have done most of the workouts at one time or another. I think that Tony does fantastic warm-ups and cool-downs.

It's all personal preference, of course. If I haven't done any cardio before a strength workout, I like to have a 5-10 minute warm-up. I like the mental preparation as well as the physical.

[lorajc]

Yes and cool down stretches.

[Irisg1]

I see it the same way. I prefer more workout time. However, I realize the importance of warming up and cooling down, and I really should do more of it .

Originally Posted by Gams

I'm just the opposite - I'd rather not have a long warm up and cool down. I'm perfectly happy doing what I need on my own and having a larger portion of the DVD dedicated to the "meat" of the workout. I feel like I get more bang for my buck that way and I like doing my own thing for the warm up/cool down.

[marmact]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

It could be that a lot of today's workouts are channeling Jack LaLanne's philosophy on warm ups and cool downs:

"Warming Up is for Sissies

I don't really think that's true - I think it's a marketing thing:

WORK OUT IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES!

It really irritates me when no warmup is included because it means I have to put another DVD in first and be tortured through not one but two SERIOUS WARNINGS about injury, copyright infringement, blahblahblah.

I will agree that stretches in the warmup are unnecessary (really, we just need to get moving). However, I really think the warmup needs to be there, but nicely chaptered so people who would prefer to skip it can do so.

[eyefit]

I agree with you there Marie. I think there's a lot of marketing pressure for 30minute workouts and they skimp on the warm ups figuring if someone needs more of a warm up before hand they'll do it on their own. The problem is, beginners won't realize the importance of that and could risk injury in the long run. It's probably true that not all bodies need to ease into intensity...some people are blessed with strong genetics. That ain't me, though.

My point with my original post was that we are paying instructors for thorough, safe workouts. I could do my own warm up...but why should I when I have paid for this dvd? The technology exists for chaptering dvds, so there really is no excuse for not creating and filming decent warm ups. I really think my original idea of breaking up the warm up with chapter set points was a good one. First chapter: low impact, full range of movements to get the blood flowing and the muscles and joints warmed up. Second chapter: continue warm up moves but slowly add intensity and some high impact movements. Those that wanted a short warm up could just skip the first chapter, and those that want to dive right in could just press the chapter skip button on the remote twice and dig in.

This is sort of how Cathe did the warm up on To the Max, which I really appreciate when I do that one. The first part of the solid step section sort of continues the warm up with low impact but ups the intensity and she slowly starts to layer in the impact. Of course, that is one reason I can never skip the solid step portion of that workout!