When CrossFit started revolutionizing the fitness landscape over two decades ago, the common warm-up practice was to get on a stationary bike, treadmill, or Stairmaster for 15 to 20 minutes. Today, this is still the warm-up of choice for many who don’t know any better. We’ve also seen the advent of warm-ups consisting of 20 minutes of foam rolling followed by another 25 minutes of every stretch and mobility movement Instagram offers. However, the CrossFit warm-up offers a more efficient and effective alternative, providing all the necessary elements in a shorter time frame.
Why Warm-Up?
While nobody really likes to warm up, this is an integral part of our fitness plan. Understanding our warm-up not only prepares us for better performance in the upcoming workout but also helps prevent injury and offers the opportunity to learn new skills and develop greater overall capacity makes warming up a more bearable task.
For a warm-up to accomplish the primary goals of improving performance, decreasing the risk of injury, and improving fitness, it must:
- Increase body temperature and heart rate.
- Provide some stretching to improve the elasticity and contractibility of muscles.
- Stimulate the entire body and primary biomechanical functions, such as force generation and core-to-extremity movement, through full ranges of motion.
- Provide practice for basic movements.
- Stimulate the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
- Stimulate the nervous system for better reaction time, coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance.
- Prepare us physically, mentally, and emotionally for rigorous athletic training by providing a transition from rest to all-out effort.
Riding a bike or jogging on a treadmill accomplishes only the first item on the list. A laundry list of flexibility and mobility movements may hit more elements, but it’s too long and tedious. We’ll never stick with it.
There’s a better way.
A Better Warm-Up
Over two decades ago, CrossFit recognized the need for a more efficient warm-up to stimulate better results, decrease injury risk, and enhance movement skills. The April 2003 issue of the CrossFit Journal introduced a CrossFit warm-up favorite that has stood the test of time, and remains a great option to prepare for a workout effectively and efficiently.
The CrossFit warm-up includes:
This warm-up addresses every requirement on our list, from increasing body temperature and heart rate to providing practice opportunities and preparing us emotionally for the workout. The key point is not to focus on the individual movements included, but to understand the basic template and then adapt it to our own needs.
The essential features of the CrossFit warm-up are:
- The stretch and major hip/leg extension (Samson stretch, overhead squat, back or hip extension).
- Trunk/hip extension and flexion (overhead squat, sit-up, back or hip extension).
- Pushing and pulling movements (pull-up, dip).
The combinations are endless and depend greatly on your specific capacity and needs. You can scale these movements down, make them more challenging, and mix and match them with different options (see Table 1 below). The idea is to address the essential features with a 15-minute circuit that challenges but does not unduly tax your system. Over time and with consistent performance, this type of warm-up is a “sneaky” and effective way to increase your work capacity. You’ve gotten fitter when 3 rounds of 15 reps of squats, sit-ups, back extensions, pull-ups, and dips require the same effort as riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes.
One of the most important pieces of this warm-up is that it offers time to practice basic movement patterns, especially high-rep calisthenics. Consistent practice, along with incremental progressions and lots of patience, is essential for improving your gymnastics skills and capacity. Sticking to this warm-up will give you more pull-ups, push-ups, dips, and sit-ups, and build the strength required to explore rope climbs, handstand push-ups, and muscle-ups. It will also improve your technique and capacity in squats and deadlifts, enhancing your Olympic lifts, single-leg movements, running, and agility.
These benefits, however, will only come with regular practice, and your warm-up is the perfect place for this. Over a year, hundreds of warm-ups done in this manner add to an extraordinary improvement in skill, mobility, strength, and overall capacity, keeping you motivated to continue your fitness journey.
That’s the better way.
Additional Warm-Up Options
Instead of the Samson Stretch, try these: world’s greatest stretch, couch stretch, ATG split squat
Instead of overhead squats, try these: goblet squats, front squats, sots press, pressing snatch balances
Instead of sit-ups, try these: hollow rocks, GHD sit-ups, L-sit practice
Instead of back extensions, try these: hip Extensions, hip and back extensions, RDLs, good mornings, single leg RDLs, glute bridges
Instead of pull-ups, try these: ring rows, rope climbs, kipping pull-ups, sled pulls with rope
Instead of dips, try these: push-ups, parallette push-ups, ring supports, handstand holds
About the Author
Stephane Rochet is a Senior Content Writer for CrossFit. He has worked as a Flowmaster on the CrossFit Seminar Staff and has over 15 years of experience as a collegiate/tactical strength and conditioning coach. He is a Certified CrossFit Trainer (CF-L3) and enjoys training athletes in his garage gym.
The CrossFit Warm-Up