Living Well: Warm Up To New Workout Ideas

"Sometimes you simply have to rethink a routine, and it's fair to say Tyler Oakley has a leg up on that. He is a personal trainer and owner of Seattle-based Flow Life Fitness. Oakley says his approach to stretching is that ‘flexibility is not necessarily a healthy characteristic.’ Instead, ‘what you are looking for is mobility. You want the muscle tissue to relax.’ In the September study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, exercise scientists at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas found typical stretches for the hamstrings (back of thigh) and quadriceps (front of the thigh) actually may reduce leg force during a workout that follows. The subjects in the study were college athletes. They were divided into three groups that performed static stretches, ballistic (bouncing) stretches or no stretches. Both stretching groups tested lower for overall leg strength. Other studies even show that workout power is diminished even in the opposite leg not being stretched. ‘Developing flexibility is important for reducing sports injury,’ said UNLV study co-author Bill Holcomb, who also directs the university's Sports Injury Research Center, ‘but the time to stretch is after, not before, performances.’ In fact, the researchers recommend that coaches skip pre-game and pre-practice stretches in favor of a ‘whole-body warm-up.’ Similarly, Oakley urges his clients to embrace his concept of ‘circular strength.’ ‘I want clients to work the whole body,’ said Oakley, who trains near the Space Needle. ‘Conventional fitness calls for isolation of muscle groups to work out (typically done with weight lifting and flexibility work). But that's a myth. You can't single out muscles. Circular strength is aimed at getting you into a flow, first with your skeletal structure and joints, then we move to the muscles.’ To this end, Oakley uses yoga and dance movements for what he calls ‘rewiring’ the skeletal structure, then typically employs kettleballs (medicine balls with handles) and pull-u bars to continue encouraging a flow format to the workout. Consensus is building: The best strategy before a workout is to heat the body with about five minutes of aerobic activity. Breaking a light sweat is a good indicator of a proper warm-up. If you prefer a quantitative perspective, you can do two to three minutes or running/walking at 40 percent capacity, then finish with two to three minutes of 60 percent capacity. Other studies show that warming up -- common sense dictates it -- too early before a game or practice won't help much and could even leave your lower back vulnerable. The best approach, gleaned from the latest research, is a minimum of five minutes warm-up and no more than 10 minutes. Then give your muscles three to five minutes to "recover" or, perhaps better expressed, recharge for the workout.”

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