Working out is a lot like sex. From the sounds we make, to the whole getting hot and sweaty thing, to the very fact that most of us workout so we can be better at sex. Or at least have a chance at having more sex.
The parallels between getting laid and getting jacked are too many to count, but one of my absolute favorites is warming up and foreplay.
Most good lovers know that you can’t skip the foreplay. That’s arguably the best part of the whole dance between the sheets. Skip that, and you’ve guaranteed that your lady is going to be telling all of her friends just how awful you were in the sack; even if you hit her with your best impression of a jackhammer.
The same can be said of your warm up in the gym. Just like it takes time to get your lady going, it takes time to get your body ready to lift heavy ass weights. You can’t just walk into a gym and pick up 400lbs off the ground. You’ve got the get the blood flowing, get your body moving, and prime it for making some magic happen.
Just like foreplay, the more attention you pay to your warm-up, the better the end result.
Here are three outstanding moves you should be adding into your warm up, and your foreplay routine.
Yoga plex/push-up combo
The yoga plex is a warm up move that I initially saw from Eric Cressey and Tony Gentilcore. It’s been something that I’ve added into my routine before every single training session. It’s a bit long, but so are the benefits:
- Upper back mobility work
- Hip extension
- Thoracic rotation
- Open up the hips
- Stretch the groin
- Work the chest, shoulders, and triceps in the push-up portion of the movement
Good luck finding a movement that takes care of all that. I like performing the entire sequence 2-3 times each side before moving on to the next warm-up move.
Hip and thoracic spine flow sequence
I believe that Max Shank was the first person I originally saw use this movement. Whoever it was, I remember thinking it looked weird as fuck until I gave it a try. You start off in the bear crawl position, which I love. That automatically tells us that you’re going to get some good core stability work, on top of everything else.
The benefits:
- Thoracic spine mobility
- Hip mobility
- Core stability
- Shoulder stability
I like going straight from yoga plex/push-up combo to this one, and performing 4 reps each side without stopping.
Squat to stand with overhead reach
Another Cressey masterpiece. The squat to stand is a perfect move for ingraining a good squat pattern, which is something every single person reading this should strive to do. On top of that you also learn just how hard it is to reach overhead while in a squatted position. Seriously, that shit is hard.
The benefits:
- Hip mobility
- Thoracic mobility
- Shoulder mobility
- Hamstring stretching
- Core stability
Perform 4 reps on each side immediately after finishing the hip/thoracic spine flow.
To make this foreplay warm-up as effective as possible perform the entire sequence without stopping. Complete all of movement 1, then 2, then 3 without any breaks at all. Your heart rate should be slightly elevated, and you should be ready to crush it in the gym. And the bedroom.