This 15-Minute Warmup Is a Must Before Any Upper-Body Workout
When you lean hard into one type of workout, don’t be surprised if you start to feel out of balance. That’s especially true if you’re doing a routine that favors one type of movement pattern over another. Activating your muscles in a warmup can help alleviate tightness and prep your muscles for your workout.
Trainer Charlee Atkins, C.S.C.S. uses this bodyweight and dumbbell shoulder and back series she designed to combat her achy shoulders as an activation series on her upper-body days.
“I cannot express enough how important warmups are to your exercise programs,” she says. “After some foam rolling and stretching, I always take my clients through a mobility/activation session that can last anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes before [the] ‘bulk’ of our workout.”
If you think warmups are a total waste of your time, think again.
“Activation sessions prime the muscles for bigger movements,” Atkins says. “The goal should be ‘turn-on’ muscles that stabilize those big movements (i.e. the rotator cuff muscles).”
Take on Atkins’ 15-minute shoulder and back activation workout to do just that before your next upper body workout. All you need is a light set of dumbbells and some room to spread out.
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A post shared by Charlee Atkins (@charleeatkins) on Nov 3, 2019 at 5:21am PST
Perform each movement for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds.
Reverse Plank Pull-Through
Y-Raise
Eccentric Pushup
Downdog and Knee Pull
Lateral Raise
Bent-Over Row
Upright Row
Take on each movement for 30 seconds of nonstop reps, then rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next exercise. Repeat for a total of two rounds.
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