Warm-Ups, Cool-Downs, and Stretching

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There are some necessary evils that some people neglect, not realizing the negative impacts that these actions can have. These things can include not turning off all the lights before leaving the house, not drinking enough water throughout the day and becoming dehydrated, not prioritizing sleep and instead staying up all night browsing Pinterest (this one I am guilty of), etc.

One thing that should never be neglected, however, is warming up and cooling down when exercising. I understand that it's not exactly thrilling to warm-up and cool-down movements before and after a workout. But although these movements seem trivial, they actually have a serious impact on your body. I honestly despise stretching, especially if my muscles are screaming after an intense workout. Do I want to stretch my hamstrings after a heavy deadlift workout? NO. But if I don't, the pain could be worse the next day. 

I'll share what I personally do for a warm-up, cool-down, and stretching.

Warm-Ups

As you would imagine from the title, these "warm up" or prime your body to start working out. They are essential for preparing your body to do any strenuous exercise, especially weight training. You wouldn't start working out a cold muscle, would you? Think about it. Say, perhaps, you're about to back squat for 8-10 reps, which is relatively heavy. You clang on the plates on the Olympic bar, having not warmed up, and get to it. As you can imagine, it's not a fun experience: your muscles just went from being "cold" (or not actively used) to pushing up heavy weight without proper warm-up. That can be dangerous. You wouldn't throw an inexperienced bullfighter into the pen with a bull, would you? Okay, so that sounds a little extreme. ;) But you get my point!

In my gym class, I am an assistant teacher to kids with special needs. We play games like ping pong and washer toss that don't seem physically active, but nevertheless we always "warm up" before playing so that we can get that blood flowing. It may seem stupid, but it's our attempt to teach the kids that warming up before doing anything even slightly active is necessary.

Essentially, warm-ups do a few things: they get the blood flowing (allowing your muscles to take over and your heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood), they heat up the muscles to start to take a pounding, they allow you to be more flexible which helps with range of motion (making the muscle being worked get more benefit), they release important hormones such as ATP that help in promoting muscle growth, and they psychologically prepare your mind to get ready for your upcoming workout.

For me personally, I warm-up in a variety of ways. Before any cardio session, I do a few jumping jacks, high knees, and butt kicks just to get the blood flowing so I can go hard. Before every weights session, I do the same thing, and depending on if I am working my upper or lower body, I do targeted exercises to get the blood flowing in that particular muscle. For legs, I always do a set of 20 bodyweight squats and 20 alternating lunges. For upper body, I take a 5-lb. plate and do 10 forward and backward arm swings. And whether its upper or lower body, I always do a warm-up set before my first exercise. This means that for whatever exercise I am about to do first, I do a set with light weights before I start lifting heavy so I can let my body know what exercise it's about to do and warm up the muscles. For example, since I always start with a compound movement, if I am doing shoulders, I will do a set of 20 reps with a light weight of shoulder to press before I start doing 8-10 reps. This is the same for every muscle group.

Cool-Downs

Just as warming up the muscle is important, cooling down is just as necessary. Now I understand that it's not the first thing I want to do after a long, vigorous workout. I just want to go home and max out on my protein and carbs. However, cool-downs are vital to help build strength and muscle. 

The importance of cool-downs comes from allowing waste products, like the dreaded lactic acid, to be removed from the body, preventing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) so that you can work a certain body part again sooner, and preventing blood from pooling the extremities.

After a workout, typically I will do some type of "finisher" circuit that includes exercises such as burpees, medicine ball slams, push-ups, etc. This not only helps boost my metabolism, but it also allows me to start to cool down. It seems odd, considering burpees are high intensity. But right after my "finisher" circuit, I immediately stretch, foam roll my sore muscles, hydrate with lots of water (because your body uses up a lot of water during exercise), and eat a source of fast-acting protein and carbohydrate to replenish energy stores and help my muscles promote an anabolic, or building, state and not a catabolic, or muscle-diminishing, state. Then I grab my stuff and I'm out of the gym.

Stretching

Here's  my confession: I used to never stretch. Ever. And it was bad! I would wake up the next day after a tough lifting workout and I would feel like I got ran over by a semi-truck. It's not pretty. I also get that stretching can be super boring, especially if you're like me and you have NO patience. I liteally do not want to hold a stretching position for 30 seconds straight because I cannot sit still and I get super fidgety. But I force myself to because it is SO necessary.

By stretching, you are preventing the chance of being in pain from DOMS and letting the blood flow to the muscles to help recovery. Before a WARM-UP you should do DYNAMIC STRETCHES such as jumping jacks and high knees. This gets the blood flowing, as I have mentioned. If you hold static stretches during a warm-up, you may actually increase your chances of getting injured during your workout. You want to get the body warmed up, not stretch it out quite yet. For COOL-DOWNS you should do STATIC STRETCHES which means holding a certain stretch for some period of time, typically 15-30 seconds. This includes toe touches, splits, etc. You don't need to do dynamic stretches because you don't need to warm the body up. 

Example of a static stretch. (Source)

So in total, what have we learned? 

ALWAYS WARM UP, COOL DOWN, AND STRETCH!!! 

Questions: Do you warm up/cool down/stretch? If not, what's your excuse?!

References:

The Importance of Aerobic Warm Up Routines

How To Cool Down After Exercise

Stretching & Recovery

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My Version of a Squat

Squats are, in my opinion, the king of all exercises, besides the deadlift, of course.

I see so many people at my gym (and they are mostly guys) who literally primarily work upper body, resulting in massively broad shoulders, a bulging chest and some rather daunting biceps. However, their legs show no signs of development... because they don't work legs.

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I understand the thinking for a guy. "But I don't want big legs, I want a big chest and huge guns!!!" Well, that's fantastic but if you want a body that looks symmetric and not deformed, then you're going to have to work legs as well, and that means doing more than the decline leg press. Especially adding in some squats to your routine. And there's another benefit to doing squats other than just building tree trunks for legs!

Erin Stern has AMAZING legs. (Source)

When you do squats, you're working the largest muscles in your body, which are found in your legs. These include the quadriceps, hamstrings, and the glutes (which can be sub-divided even further because the muscle is so big). It's a proven fact that the more of a muscle you work, the more you tear down the muscle and the more calories you burn, hence why always working your tiny bicep muscles (in comparison to the huge leg muscles) doesn't get you as in shape as you would like to be in.

When you squat, you're working all of these, so you are tearing through calories and breaking the muscles down. And, on top of that, when you squat, you release testosterone. This is a hormone that males have abundantly, and women have very little of, but still have it. Testosterone is the hormone that is anabolic, A.K.A. builds muscle. Why do you think female bodybuilders take testosterone injections? Because they want to build a lot of muscle atypical for a woman to have. Why do you think men are more muscular and can bulk up faster than women? Because they naturally have more testosterone.

The more testosterone you release, the more muscle you build. Therefore, when you squat, you're not simply building up the muscles in your legs, but you're allowing your body to take in that testosterone, which can help you build muscle faster everywhere and stay lean as well.

Now let's talk about the anatomy of a squat. First and foremost, THIS is a squat:

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This is what I like to call an "ass to the grass" squat. THIS is NOT a squat:

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This is a quarter squat. This will simply not do.

I hate to be picky, but I hate seeing someone with so much potential not go down deep enough. Get that ASS to the GRASS (excuse my French). Sure, going down a quarter of the way will work the quads, which is fantastic, but to get the most bang for your buck, which is working the glutes and hamstrings as well and releasing more testosterone, you must go ALL THE WAY DOWN. 

If you want to build a tight butt, you have to dig deeper because if you're not going down far enough, you're not working your glutes. I know people want to throw as much weight on the bar as they can, squat a quarter of the way, and say "LOOK HOW MUCH I SQUATTED!" I get it, I really do. But you're not getting stronger by letting your ego get in the way. Lighten the load, go down all the way, and you will see the difference (and feel it). You may notice that you're not that sore after doing quarter squats the next day, and the reason is simple: You didn't tax your legs hard enough because you didn't work all the muscles. When you get your butt to the ground, I guarantee you WILL feel it the next day and bask in your glory. That's how you get stronger--with proper form.

With that being said, there are also a few things that people need to work on when they squat, MYSELF included (and I have worked diligently over the past few weeks to perfect my squat). Here they are.

1. Letting your knees cave in.

This is a big no-no. If your knees cave in, this is an indication that you have weak hip abductors and adductors and you need to strengthen those before you go too heavy on the squats. Push your knees OUT, do NOT let them cave in towards each other as you bring the weight back up.

2. Not looking up.

There's a reason people who are squatting look like they are admiring the ceiling. Looking up allows you to put more emphasis on the feet to push the weight back up; it's a balance thing. When you look straight or down, your body wants to tilt forward which is not good indeed.

3. Setting the bar in a bad place.

The bar should not be right on your neck. This will cause some intense neck pain the next day. Instead, it should be held on your back nice and snug so it's not resting right on your bone.

4. Tilting forward.

This is very bad. You should always keep an erect back when squatting, because otherwise you will damage your lower back and tip forward, which could cause you to fall over, and well, you know the rest. Sometimes the weight may be too heavy as well, causing you to tilt, or your upper body to lean too far forward, so remove some of the weight and focus on proper form. Always make sure your back is straight and not rounded, and don't let your chest and shoulders droop forward.

5. Using your toes to push back up.

You cannot do this if you want to properly engage the muscles. You MUST push through your heels. Pushing through your toes may still work the leg, but again, pushing through your heels guarantees that you are putting the most emphasis on the quads, hammies, and glutes. So focus on pushing through your heels as you come back up.

I'm sure there's more things you can improve on in your squat, but these are the biggest mistakes. There are so many variations of squats: back squats, front squats, overhead squats, split squats, narrow squats, sumo squats, hack squats, etc. Always make sure you are using proper form, and DON'T FORGET TO SQUAT IN THE FIRST PLACE! And add some resistance!!! They really are the king of exercises for a reason--they build muscle ALL around! 

I love my squats, as you can tell. :)

Questions: Do you squat? Do you like it? Are there any no-nos I didn't include?

Another Weight Training Rant...

I know I've said this in a million other posts but I feel some reiteration from time to time is necessary. Are you ready (pretty much directed to the ladies)?

PICK UP A DUMBBELL. GET OFF THE TREADMILL.

I don't know... was I clear enough? I feel like I need a megaphone to preach this from the mountaintops, and even then I'll get the same responses of "But, like...lifting weights makes you all like, bulky..."

No. NO. No no no no no.

Most girls want this crap called "tone". What the hell is that?! Seriously? If I wanted "tone" I'd go do Tracy Anderson's little "metamorphosis" workouts with 3-lb. dumbbells. Yeah, no. You won't get "toned" spending two hours on the elliptical/treadmill/bike/(insert extremely boring cardio machine here). Yes, I do use cardio machines from time to time but I'm not on there for a long time unless I get distracted talking to someone. I keep it short on those things, and intense.

And you also won't get toned lifting pink-coated dumbbells that don't go above 10 lbs. Seriously.

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I'm not going to hate on the female bodybuilders, like the above Yaxeni Oriquen, but if you lift heavy weights you will not turn into She-Hulk. Female bodybuilders train for sometimes hours a day, eat upwards of 4,000+ calories to fuel intense muscle growth, and inject themselves with testosterone/steroids. Women don't have anywhere near the amounts of testosterone (a hormone essential to building huge muscles) that men do. Not even CLOSE. That's why women bodybuilders have to inject the hormone into themselves to get that big. 

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If you weight train, you'll look something more like this. Granted, this is bikini competitor Christina Vargas and she probably underwent intense dieting and training to get that body in that particular condition, but that's the gist of it. You won't have that low of body fat, but you won't have muscles growing on muscles. You will, however, have clear definition and a smokin' hot body.

You'll look lean, muscular but not overly done, and fit. Don't fear a little muscle! Muscle increases your metabolic rate, meaning you burn calories throughout the day even when you're not exercising, or simply just SITTING there. Yes, with more muscle, you'll have a higher number on the scale, HOWEVER, muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less space on your body. Case in point:

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This girl is a prime example: she gained 9 pounds, however she clearly lost FAT (what you want to lose) and gained MUSCLE (what you want to gain). 

Basically, the minute you step off that cardio machine, your calorie burn stops right then and there. When you weight train, you're burning calories all throughout the day and even during sleep because you have damaged your muscles to the point where they are constantly looking to be fed, burning calories in the process. 

There is a time and place for cardio, however, if you're looking to seriously "get fit" then I urge everyone to go pick up some iron. 

Okay, that is all. :)

Tattoos & 30 Things I Love

Hey! Long time no talk!

What's going on in my world?! Well a lot. Let me show you:

Oh, why yes, I did get tatted! It's the Irish trinity knot, which basically is a symbol for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It serves as a mark for me showing me that I'm still here, even after all the things I've been through.

I'm so excited! I love it. I know I am young and already have a tattoo, but it fits my personality and I am not trying to please anybody but myself, so there's that. ;)

I feel like I don't give my gratitude enough for little things so I've basically compiled a list of 30 things that make me happy. And I don't need much more than that. :) Without further ado...

1. Tattoos -- I can't wait to get more!

2. Peanut butter -- It's abnormal for me to have less than 5 jars in my house at once.

3. Weightlifting -- This one is a given. I love me some iron!

4. My mom -- She's been through hell and back with me, and she's still here.

5. Dogs -- Sorry cat people! Dogs hold a place in my heart.

6. Tall socks -- I might be one of the only people who actually likes receiving socks as a gift.

7. Pinterest -- I will fully admit that I am (extremely) addicted.

8. Angels & Airwaves -- I can't go a day without listening to one of their songs.

9. My brother -- He's such a dork. But I love him!

10. Turquoise -- If I see this color, I will go after it.

11. Pancakes -- I'm always down for pancakes...

12. Mascara -- Sometimes just a dab makes you feel on top of the world.

13. Fruit-flavored gum -- No. It has to be fruit-flavored. None of that minty crap.

14. Yoga pants -- If you're a female, then you definitely understand.

15. Muscular men -- It's my eye candy... what can I say?!
16. Swingsets -- Call me childish, but I love zoning out on the swings with my music.

17. My friends -- They know who they are, and they know I've always got their backs.

18. Spontaneity -- I love it. I'm not much of a planner. I go with the flow.

19. Surprises -- They are seriously my favorite!

20. Vans -- I don't care if I look ridiculous wearing Vans and tall socks. I'm comfy okay?!
21. Bacon -- It completes me. <3

22. Instagram -- It's TOO addicting. *updates every five seconds*

23. Salt -- Screw sodium. I'll take that triple dipped in salt please!

24. Lilies -- I am SUCH a sucker for lilies. Oh my gosh they are beautiful.

25. Little kids -- I just love them. They are God's gift to the world.

26. City lights -- If you've never seen them, make it an obligation before you die.

27. Back roads -- And yes, I'm a country girl at heart. Gotta love driving down some back roads.

28. Summer nights -- Bonfire, roasted marshmallows, memories. <3

29. Starry skies -- Stars are beautiful. It makes me sad when there are none. :(

30. My body -- We've been through a lot. And I'd say we make a great team! :)

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY!