In their quest to build muscle fast and just hit the weights, most body builders over look one of the most important aspects of building muscle. Warming up.
In order for your workouts to be effective and to maximize muscle growth, you need to warm up properly before you start "pumping iron". A good warm up has immense benefits the two most important of which are:
a) It increases the amount of weight your body can handle.
b) It significantly reduces your chances of getting injured when you lift the heavier weights.
Personally I favor doing a light cardio-vascular exercise to begin the warm up. This helps 'grease' the muscle for the heavy workout that is to follow without taking up much energy.
It is super important to conserve you energy so that you can work out with as much intensity as you can muster.
Running at a low speed on the treadmill or using a cycle machine should do the job.
This stimulates your heart and lungs and triggers the secretion of synovial fluid which lubricates your joints. Synovial fluid is a viscous egg-yolk-like fluid that sits between your joints. It helps reduce friction during moment.
The next part of the warm up is stretching. Stretching increases your flexibility and also further prepares the muscles for the difficult task of weight lifting ahead. It is difficult to explain the various stretches in words, so see the link at the bottom of the article for how to stretch.
Do a complete body stretch before the actual workout and also try to stretch in between sets. Good stretching can double the effectiveness of your workout.
The final part of the warm up is doing extremely light weights on the exercises that target the muscle group you intend to work on that day. For example,if you are working on the upper body (chest, back, shoulders, biceps or triceps) do light push ups or bench pressing with just the weight of the bar. After you complete this you are now ready to begin your workout in earnest.
Again, do a whole body stretch but warm up sets for just the muscle groups that you are targeting on that day. Ideally your work out should last no more than 15 minutes.
Always try to maintain laser focus on what you have planned so that you minimize the time spent in the gym, spending no more than 75 --- 90 minutes total for each training session. One way of enhancing this focus is to visualize powerfully during the cardio part of the workout.
Since cardio is the least mind intensive part of the workout, use the time spent on cardio to visualize the results you want and the intensity you will bring to bear when lifting the weights. The mental part of bodybuilding is just as important and should not be neglected.
In summary, resist the temptation to rush into the gym and just hit the weights. A proper warm up will pay immense dividends for you in both the short and long term.
Found this useful? Claim your FREE Muscle Building course (while still available) by following the link below.
About this Author
By Don Demarco (Dr Muscle). Don Demarco, popularly known as "Dr Muscle" is the author of the weekly Ask Dr. Muscle Column.
To take part in a free mini-muscle building course follow the link below.
Ultimate Men's Workout
For general exercise and fitness information visit Men's Workout Exercises
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