The Best Warm-Up You Can Do In 10 Minutes

THREE COMPONENTS OF A WARM-UP

The following sequences involve three components:

1. Activation Exercises
2. Mobility Exercises
3. Potentiation Exercises

You do them in that order because it makes sense to do activation before mobility to improve your neuromuscular control or “joint stability” as you move through the range of motion.

It also makes sense to do the potentiation exercises as the final piece of your warm-up to prime the nervous system for what you’re about to do. We’ll take a deeper dive in the tabs below.

You can do both warm-up protocols pretty much anywhere because they require little space and only one piece of equipment: an NT Loop Mini or regular mini band.

You should complete these in ten minutes or less once you become proficient, but they may take a bit longer at first as you learn how to perform them.

Remember, this is a warm-up, not a workout. So don’t do so much that you feel tired afterward. You should feel more loose and ready to go!

Perform the exercises back-to-back with no rest:

ACTIVATION

• Mini Band Box Walk: 1 set x 3-4 steps laterally and 6-8 steps linearly for 4 laps.
• Mini Band Hip Internal Rotation: 1 set x 15 reps
• Mini Band Reciprocal Hip Bridge: 1 set x 20 reps each side

MOBILITY

• Dynamic Pigeon Stretch: 1 set x 5 each side
• Hip Roll: 1 set x 10 each side
• Reach Through with Lateral Zombie Squat: 1 set x 5 each side
• Reverse Lunge with Reach: 1 set x 5 each side

POTENTIATION

• Prisoner Squat Jump: 1-2 sets x 5 reps

Perform the exercises back-to-back with no rest:

ACTIVATION

• Mini Band No-Money: 1 set x 15 reps
• Mini Band 90/90 External Rotation: 1 set x 15 reps each side
• Thoracic Rotation – Back Scratch: 1 set x 5 reps each side
• T-Roll Push-up: 1 set x 8 reps each side

MOBILITY

• Arm Cross-Over Stretch: 1 set x 8 reps each side
• Arm Circle with Leg Drive: 1 set x 10 reps each direction (clockwise and counter-clockwise)

POTENTIATION

• Seal Jack: 1-2 sets x 20 reps

TOTAL BODY WARM-UP

For total-body workouts, simply blend exercises from the two above and do the following exercises back-to-back:

ACTIVATION

• Mini Band No Money: 1 set x 15 reps
• Mini Band Box Walk: 1 set x 3-4 steps laterally and 6-8 steps linearly for 4 laps.
• Mini Band Reciprocal Hip Bridge: 1 set x 20 reps each side
• Quadruped Thoracic Rotation – Back Pat or Back Scratch: 1 set x 5 reps each side

MOBILITY

• Dynamic Pigeon: 1 set x 5 each side
• Hip Roll: 1 set x 10 each side
• Lunge with Reach: 1 set x 5 each side
• Arm Circle with Leg Drive: 1 set x 10 reps each direction (clockwise and counter-clockwise)

POTENTIATION

• Seal Jack: 1 set x 20 reps
• Prisoner Squat Jump: 1 sets x 5 reps

THE RAMP METHOD

What you see here is a version of the RAMP warm-up developed by Ian Jeffreys (1). RAMP stands for raise (body temp), activate, mobilize, and potentiate.

For lifters, I’ve simply eliminated the “raise body temperature” portion because it’s not really needed. Your body temp rises automatically rises while doing the activation, mobility, and potentiation exercises. You get the same benefits while saving time.

Generally, spending more than 10 minutes on a warm-up is probably too long because it takes away from your workout time. And it’s supposed to help your workout, not hinder it.

Want to take a deeper dive? Here’s a quick overview of the three warm-up components and why to do them.

DEEP DIVE: WHY ACTIVATION?

Activation exercises promote the recruitment of key musculature, such as the glutes and rotator cuff, which might improve both the kinematics of movement and the ultimate performance outcome.

However, researchers have investigated the effect of gluteal activation exercises on athletic performance (2-6). The results have been equivocal, with some studies reporting modest increases in performance outcomes regarding things like height jumped and power output. Others found no difference.

That said, other research found that glute activation warm-ups can change the relative muscular involvement, creating greater external rotation of the hip and keeping the knees closer to a neutral alignment. (7)

This lines up with the idea that doing some lower-level strength training exercises for the glutes prior to a workout can facilitate recruitment so that a smaller neural drive may evoke greater force production during movement. This affirms most of my athletes over the years who say they feel “better” and “more ready” after performing the hip and shoulder activation exercises.

DEEP DIVE: WHY MOBILITY?

Mobility is your ability to move your body freely and easily. It’s related to flexibility because some mobility exercises give you a great stretch. However, mobility is focused on how much controlled range your joints have.

These warm-up sequences include mobility exercises that help you maintain and increase your overall joint mobility, which can improve joint health. As the saying goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

The mobility exercises above complement your training for size, strength, and power because they require your joints to move into their end range of motion. In comparison, smart strength training involves avoiding end-range joint actions to maximize safety in handling heavy loads.

Many people find that these mobility exercises also help them squat deeper, deadlift with a straighter back, and perform lifts with more comfort and less restriction.

DEEP DIVE: WHY POTENTIATION?

This involves some power, speed, and agility training when you’re most fresh at the beginning of the workout. This adds a great training benefit by improving athleticism. Also, the intensity helps you perform your lifts closer to your maximal levels. (1)

REFERENCES

1. Jeffreys I. Warm up revisited – the “ramp” method of optimizing performance preparation. Professional Strength and Conditioning. 2007;6:12–18.
2. Crow JF et al. Low load exercises targeting the gluteal muscle group acutely enhance explosive power output in elite athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Feb;26(2):438-42. PubMed.
3. Comyns T et al. **Effects of a low-load gluteal warm-up on explosive jump performance.**J Hum Kinet. 2015 Jun 27;46:177–187. PMC.
4. Barry L et al. Performance effects of repetition specific gluteal activation protocols on acceleration in male rugby union players. J Hum Kinet. 2016 Dec 1;54:33–42. PMC.
5. Healy R et al. The effects of a unilateral gluteal activation protocol on single leg drop jump performance. Sports Biomech. 2014 Mar;13(1):33-46. PubMed.
6. Cochrane DJ et al. **Does short-term gluteal activation enhance muscle performance?**Res Sports Med. 2017 Apr-Jun;25(2):156-165. PubMed.
7. Parr M et al. **Effect of a gluteal activation warm-up on explosive exercise performance.**BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2017;3(1):e000245.