The lost art of warming up

We intentionally left prescribed warm-ups out of The Space Program, unless pre-fatigue had something to do with enhancing the main course. Some might take this as a sign that we don’t think warming up is crucial, but it’s quite the opposite. The complexity and nuance that surrounds the question of how one should prepare themselves for hard efforts is difficult to translate and a mistake to generalize. In our daily practice, we address priming and preparing the tissues, we brief our clientele on mindset, sensations, and the psychological strategy for—often— the majority of the session. Only after instilling the importance of attention and intention do we allow, what most would refer to as, “the meat” of a session to occur. And then we raise our hands and walk away. 

There is little to be heard or understood when one is in the throes of a truly intense effort. And yet, most believe—incorrectly—that this where the magic happens. It is not. Yes, intensity is required for improvement, but improvement is at the crossroads of intentional action and conflict with self—I would say most of it is before conflict with self. Progress happens when repetition is under a most conscious state, it is directly correlated with attention, and is solidified only in the wave of subconscious sleep. These are both the unsung states of our industry, the primary reason one is able to make progress. 

Warming up might include moving around a bit, getting some blood flowing and some heart rate elevation but it should be a side effect of what the mind is doing; constructing an operating check list of sorts. Priming your system is about feedback, and assessment. This can’t happen if your awareness is focused on bullshitting with your training partner, or in the midst of a deep negotiation of “quit/don’t quit”. 

How do you do this?

Attention. 

Lots of attention. 

Warming up is about learning to pay attention, holding that attention or holding yourself accountable for being unable to do so. 

We get a lot of questions about how to make progress, all answers revolve around this idea: what are you not aware of? We don’t know why exactly some people have a hard time achieving what they said they wanted to, or why others can’t avoid chronic or catastrophic injury, but we do know that it is highly correlated with attention, and the lack of it. 

Next time you train, pay attention to how much you can pay attention. How much do you really warm up, what are you thinking about when you do? If you can’t seem to recover from injuries, or progress seems stagnant, double your warmup time and cut your training in half. 

When you really have a handle on priming the system, it will be hard to tell when the warmup ends and the workout begins. Once you see the progress you can make by narrowing your focus, there is no other way but to pay attention.