Active Warming-Up

[SteveB]

My own experience suggests that warming up does take a little longer as we age. I personally use the Tibetans, Body-Flow or Warrior Wellness for this phase. I'm interested in the experience of others in this direction. There are certainly contrary opinions: in other words, if you are training a capacity that has to be utilized "cold" it should be practised "cold." Thoughts? Opinions?

Personally, I opt on the side of safety, using some kind of gradual work to "check in" with my body before I put the pressure on.
Now, in the "Five Minute Miracle" (GTG) mode, I might perform a three-stage Miracle five times a day:
1) A martial arts movement pattern (makes sense to train your body to move defensively with no warm-up)
2) A strength move ( Clubbell or Kettlebell. A simple move that doesn't twist the shoulder girdle acutely)
3) Body-Flow or Warrior wellness
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Takes about 3 minutes max, and is invigorating as heck if you choose movements that are fun, safe, and don't require much warm-up.

Your thoughts?

[Connie Brown]

Well I am taking longer to warm up nowadays. I too am 51 with a sedentary job. But I would not say it's from aging necessarily, as much as too long in this sedentary condition.

I had been doing a 5-minute combo Arm Screw and Movement Recovery from Body-Flow and Z-Health before I do a 10-15 min CB routine.

I am today ordering the 5 Minute Miracle! Check came in. wahoo

Connie

[rbibbs]

I start with full ROM/WW... kind of like pre-flighting an aircraft... see if everything is working as expected. My knees are troublesome, so it takes a full set of routines-- squats, shinboxes, more-- to get them ready for ground work. But once everything is moving, I'm good to go.

If the session includes strength, it comes next. I'll do it all right then, so that I'm less likely to try to power the flow and technique parts. For strength-only sessions, which for me are all upper-body, all I do is stretch some first, then ramp-up the intensity as I go, the work IS the warmup.

I try to build a lot of Body Flow into BJJ and kickboxing practice, and I do those "cold", having run the checklist above, and knowing there aren't any configurations I have problems with.

Regarding "cold utilization/cold practice"... there might be an applicability for that, under rarefied circumstances. But athletes/sport fighters know when their skills are going to be called upon. And, just my take on it, one would be more likely to be injured training cold several times a week, compared to the likelihood any of us is going to be attacked unaware on the street-- under which conditions the 'warmup performance edge' is unlikely to be what decides the outcome.

Rick

[bob_stra]

This is just talking out my ass, but ....

IIRC Synovial fluid thins as one ages. Thus, it take more movement to lubricate the joint.

Make of that what you will - I have no URLs to provide as evidence.

Also - I notice a lot of the older guys in judo take an age to warm up, kick ass, then windup early for cool downs. They move slower, but smarter all around.

I suppose "maximal pliability with warmup" might be one of those things one trains their nervous system to display. In fact, you're really training kinesthetic pliability, not mechanical pliability (which, as I said above, decreases with age).

Also, the ability to hold nervous tension increases as you age. You get stronger. Normally kids, with weak little muscles, can't lock themselves up as much as we can. So, they can "warm up" quicker. The background noise that needs to be diminished is less.

(I can see the counter argument that you're probably forming - what abt sedentary seniors? Don't they have "less noise" because they're weaker?
I'd argue no. Pain, arthritic changes and other mechanical alterations would actually mean more noise, IMHO. But I'm generalizing. My judo instructor is nearly 60 and he had *no problem* tossing me about like a rag doll. But that's a tangent for another time)

Anyway, I could be wrong. I'm not certain exactly how to best apply this to "cold training". I mostly train for self development, so the idea that I might have to apply my skills cold never really bothered me. I just assumed that the training of my physical attributes @ speed + efficiancy training would cover my ass.

[admin]

Warm-ups can be fun and certainly WW and Body Flow can play an important part. But for a somewhat different approach, I often use one of those round rebound trampolines. Just bounce for 5 minutes or so and your whole body feels invigorated and the blood is pumping! It also has a tonic effect on the lymph system, which needs motion to work. After a bit of bouncing, I then move on to WW or BF or some DROM swings with a light club (5 pounds or an Indian club).
For sure, as we age it takes longer to get the ol' chi circulating and the joints lubricated. Bouncing does it quickly and enjoyably. I know it's just one more piece of equipment, but in this case there are many many studies proving its efficacy. NASA even uses them for their astronaut's training. But more importantly, it's fun! :)