Warming up and cooling down are essential to making sure that you are able to consistently train and perform at your full potential. We come up with daily warmups filled with calisthenics and movement prep in order to make sure that your bodies are ready for the WOD.

Frequently, our WOD begins with a lift of some sort. Sometimes, as with a 3X5 or 5X3 rep scheme, the board does not indicate warm-up sets. Your body, primarily your nervous system, needs a few warm-up sets to prepare itself for the day’s lift. Immediately loading the bar with something in between 75% – 85% of your 1RM can have very bad consequences. Best case scenario is you have a bad session and miss your lifts. Worst case, you get injured and have to miss training days.

So what’s a good warm-up set look like and where’s a good place to begin? In Bill Starr’s excellent CrossFit Journal article, he says, “you can start too heavy but you can never start too light.” Two sets of 5 with an empty bar for squats and presses is a good place to start and reinforce proper technique before ramping up the load. Adding 2-3 sets (5, 3 and 2 reps perhaps) that get progressively closer to your loading prescription will properly ensure that your body is prepared for the task at hand.

We’ve talked before about foam rolling and stretching. These are perfect for after the WOD before you jump into your car and head home. The bands aren’t just for assistance on bodyweight exercises. Check out the Mobility WOD link in the right-hand column and put some Kelly Starrett’s excellent tips and tricks to use. Your body will thank you for it and it will show in your performance.

WOD – 12.28.2011

Deadlift
3-3-3-1-1-1

40 Double-Unders
20 Burpees
30 Double-Unders
15 Burpees
20 Double-Unders
10 Burpees