So in Part One, we went over your pre-workout foam rolling and stretching. From here we are going to progress into your dynamic flexibility and joint mobility warm up. This part of the workout has probably been the biggest change to most training programs over the last ten years. I remember just throwing a client on a treadmill or elliptical for 10-15 minutes thinking that was an effective warm up. It was nice to get the blood flowing and increase the core body temperature, but that's about it. Then the corrective exercise craze started and dynamic warm ups become popularized. In addition to increasing blood flow and core body temperature a dynamic warm up will provide more central nervous system stimulation and heightened mental awareness for the upcoming workout. You basically become more tuned into what is about to follow.
A dynamic warm up can be different for each individual and this is where corrective exercises can be placed. For instance someone that is suffering from chronic knee pain may want to emphasize some hip extension, hip abduction and mobilization of the hip flexor area. Or someone that is dealing with some shoulder pain may want to work on some thoracic extension, thoracic rotation and scapular retraction exercises. I would usually suggest performong 6-8 exercises as part of your dynamic warm up.
The video below samples a pretty basic dynamic flexibility/joint mobility warm up that coud be used for the typical individual: lack of hip mobility, stiff through the thoracic spine, maybe dealing with some low back issues and has a tough time squatting correctly. The exercises are:
Side Lying Thoracic Rotation
Cradle Walk
Heel Pull Back
Overhead Walking Lunge
Split Stance Broomstick Shoulder Mobilization
Squat to Stand
Perform about 8-10 reps of each exercise. It may take you a couple minutes longer initially, but once you get used to the exercises and transitioning of one exercise to the next the dynamic warm up should take you no longer than 8-10 minutes.
Now these are just exercises I would suggest using for the warm up portion of the fat loss program I am about to lay out for you. If you already have a dynamic warm up that works for you, great. If you want some other suggestions of exercises to include as part of your warm up there are plenty of great products out on the market today such as Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman's Assess & Correct or Mike Boyles Joint by Joint Warm-up and Training DVD.
All parts of your warm up are covered, time to move onto the part you are probably waiting for. Time for the fat to be burned.
I would bet that for the general population at least 80% of you work out with fat loss being the number priority, especially this time of year. In other words you want to get "ripped" or "tone up". I would also bet that 80% of you are going about it the wrong way: worrying too much about how many calories you are burning, spending way too much time doing steady state aerobic work and using a set/rep scheme that is doing very little to elicit fat loss.
There are many theories about what a fat loss program should look like. There are also many advanced methods. Methods that may be beyond the scope of the general population and the scope of this post. What I want to do here is lay out a pretty simple template for you...the general population. Something that is not going to confuse the hell out of you, yet something that is going to be effective. Something that is not not going to require a ton of time, may be 60-75 minutes max with each workout. Something that is going to get you looking like The Situation, not like Snookie. So, let's move onto the programming.
I'm basically going to lay out a template for you with some suggestions for each part of the template. The template is going to consist of two workouts that can be used over the course of the week. You will alternate through each workout over the course of each week. For instance if you are going to perform two workouts per week, you will perform each workout over the course of the week. If you're going to perform three workouts per week, one week you will perform Workout A twice and Workout B once. The next week you will do Workout B twice and Workout A once. Got it?
Each workout will be divided up into four parts:
Foam Rolling & Static Stretching
Dynamic Flexibility/Joint Mobility
Strength work
Interval training or conditioning work
Today, let's cover Part One: Foam Rolling and Static Stretching.
I know the question you are asking right now is, "What the hell does foam rolling and stretching have to do with fat loss? Am I going to roll the fat off my body?". Nice idea, but "no" is the answer. It has to do more with training over the long haul. For any fat loss training program to be effective it must be performed frequently. You can not train frequently, especially with any intensity, if you are going to keep getting hurt. So foam rolling and stretching are going to lessen your chances of injury and and increase your chances of training frequently.
If you do not have access to a foam roller, go get one. If your gym doesn't have a foam roller, go join another gym or ask them to spend the $18 to get one. Once you have your foam roller you're going to execute about eight patterns, spending about 20-30 seconds with each pattern. The areas I suggest working on are:
Quads
Hip Flexors
IT Band
Glutes/Piriformis
Adductors
Lats
Rhomboids
Calves
Thoracic Extensors
This should take you no more than 5-10 minutes. Foam rolling is going to set you up for your static stretching. The idea behind foam rolling or any other type of self myofacial work is to reduce the density of the muscles and facia, in turn making them more pliable when it comes time to stretch.
After you are done foam rolling you are going to perform your static stretches. Why are you stretching now? One, as I just mentioned your muscles are going to be a bit more pliable after working on the foam roller. Two, it just has to do more with what people tend to do. Put stretching early on in the workout and people are probably going to do it. Put stretching in at the end of the workout and people are probably going to head to the car early without getting in any stretching at all.
With the static stretching you want to address areas that are overly tight. For a good amount of people this will be the hip flexors, hip external rotators and the upper trap area. If there are some other areas that might be issues for you, you may want to address those. Below is a video of some stretches I will use prior to a workout.
Your foam rolling is out of the way. Your static stretching is out of the way. About 15 minutes has passed. Time to get moving. In Part Two, I will cover your dynamic flexibility/joint mobility warm up.
If your gym doesn't have a foam roller, go join another gym or ask them to spend the $18 to get one. Once you have your foam roller you're going to execute about eight patterns, spending about 20-30 seconds with each pattern. The areas I suggest working on are: