"I never do warm-ups. They're a waste of time."
"You need to do them," I said. "Everyone needs to do them."
"But I'm busy! I don't have time for warm-ups!"
I stopped and looked at him sternly.
"If you don't have time for warm-ups, you don't have time to train," I said.
"But -- but -- they don't build any muscle. The weights are too light. What's the point?"
The bar was loaded to 135. I briefly considered dropping it on him and leaving. Or better yet, wrapping it around his neck and leaving.
It took an effort of self-control, but I managed to stay calmand simply answer his question.
"Okay, here's the deal on warm-ups," I said.
"Number one -- warm-ups are an important part of your workout. No, they don't trigger gains in strength. muscle and power. It's your working sets that do that."
"But if you skip the warm-ups, or if you don't do them the right way, you reduce your ability to go all out on your work sets. And that reduces your results."
"A cold muscle can generate a certain amount of strength and power. When the same muscle is warmed up, it can generate MORE strength and power. And when you're lifting weights, more strength and more power is always a good thing."
"If you don't believe me, look at any athlete in any sport. The athlete spends plenty of time doing focused warm-ups before going into competition."
"Olympic weightlifting champions will often begin by warming up with a BROOMSTICK. Then they move on up to AN EMPTY BAR. And theseare incredibly strong and powerful athletes."
I paused and looked at him.
"Does that make sense?" I asked.
He nodded slowly.
"I never thought about it that way," he said.
"Well, that's the way to start thinking about it."
He nodded slowly.
"Number two -- warm-ups help you avoid injuries.
That's simple common sense. And it's especially true as you get older."
"I guess that makes sense," he said.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"32."
"Well, give it a few more years, and it will make a heck of a lot more sense."
He nodded. Maybe I was starting to get through to get through to him.
"I know a lot of guys think it's cool to run out and grab the bar and start slamming it up and down to show how strong they are --but that's dumb. Those are the very same guys who end up hurting themselves and dropping out. Don't copy them."
He nodded again.
"Number three is really important," I said."It involves the mind-muscle connection."
"What's that?" he asked.
"The mind-muscle connection is what links your mind-- meaning your brain and your nervous system -- with your muscles. the stronger the link, the more muscle fibers you activate. "
"People who don't lift weights usually think it's all about muscle power. It's not. It's really more about mind power than anything else."
"To get the most out of your training, you need to get your mind involved in your workout. You need to FOCUS.
You need to CONCENTRATE. You need to eliminate all distractions."
"When you train, your mind should be operating at top efficiency. You should have greater mental focus than when you do anythingelse."
"That sounds zen," he said.
I nodded.
"It is, grasshopper."
He was too young to catch the allusion. I sighed, and kept going.
"When you start training, you need to gradually warm-up your body so it is ready for peak performance. But you also need to do the same with your mind. You need to clear out the fog and the cobwebs of daily life. You need to tighten your focus and narrow your concentration.
You do that step by step, becoming more and more focused, as you do your warm-up sets."
He looked stunned.
"Wow, I never knew warm-ups were so important,"he said.
"Well, now you know."
I pointed to the bar.
"That's 135 pounds. I want five reps in perfect form, with good, tight, focus and deep, powerful concentration."
He nodded, chalked his hands and stepped to the bar.
על החשיבות של חימום לפני האימון
ציטוט ההודעה
