Setting Up For The Best Outcome

Hey there! Welcome to our little corner of the internet where we explore all things fitness. Each week, we'll take a deep dive into the secrets of a healthy lifestyle, busting fitness myths along the way, and making exercise a breeze with some super handy tips. So get ready to join us on this exciting fitness journey!

This Week’s Healthy Discussion

1. Setting up for the Best Outcome

2. Choosing a Time to Stretch

3. Two Life-saving Hip Stretches

Setting up for the Best Outcome

Getting started for a workout is simple to do but something that most people rush.

When stepping into the gym, you are not immediately ready to lift the heaviest weight you can do. Your joints need to warm up, as well as your muscle’s and your mind.

The simplest way I go about warming up for my first heavy set is:

• Dynamic Stretching

• 2-3 warm up sets, sticking at 2-5 reps

Dynamic stretches are movement-based stretches that help get the joints/muscles moving and ready to go for the following exercise.

The warm ups are starting from a very light weight to about ninety percent of what your heaviest set will be.

Sticking around 2-5 reps to avoid gaining unnecessary fatigue but still enough to warm the muscles up.

After going through these steps, I am ready to go for my main working set for the day.

For the rest of the exercises that day, I will only do 1-2 warm ups sets, going with how prepped I feel for them.

Choosing a Time to Stretch

We have Dynamic Stretches and we have Static Stretches, but when do we use them correctly?

Dynamic stretches are for before your workout. These help prep your muscles and joints for performance as well as prevent injuries.

Static stretches are going to mainly be for your cool-down. These also help prevent injuries and relax the muscles.

There are always exceptions when it comes to timing specific stretches but that is a general rule that you can follow.

Mobility is going to be your best friend if you prioritize a time for stretching. It will transfer over to your exercises with allowing you to have better range of motion.

So make sure to include them in your routine.

Two Life-Saving Hip Stretches

1. Lunge Stretch - Start in a Lunge Position, with the back knee resting on the ground, push hips forward and let the front knee travel over the front foot.

2. Fire Hydrants - Start on hands and knees, keeping your knee bent, move the working leg out to the side and return to repeat on the opposite leg.