Super Simple Full Body Warm-up
Super Simple Full Body Warm-up
As you know, Steve Maxwell and I are putting on the 1st annual Advanced Strength & Mobility Seminar on April 9th, so I wanted to share with you a very simple warm-up I picked up from him. This movement is so effective at getting you warmed up because it utilizes your whole body.
When I first saw the video of Steve doing this movement, he was using it as his finisher / conditioning at the end of his workout. He was really working hard even though the movement was so simple. That is why I started incorporating into my warm-up. I immediately felt better because it was so effective. I was sweating, my hips, ankles and upper back opened up.
When you start incorporating warm-ups into your workouts you’ll see that there are so many options. You can perform (warm-up) complexes where you utilize many different movements with many different “tools”.
OR
You can just perform some simple (to complex) bodyweight movements that “awaken” your entire body.
Enter the Squat to Row.
Bodyweight Squat to Row
The lifter will setup in a power rack (with a barbell on the pins) or on the smith machine. The lifter will grab the bar and sit back into a full overhead squat. The bar should be at a height where the lifter will be at about a parallel squat. As you warm-up, you can lower the back and get deeper and deeper into a full squat.
While in the hole, the lifter can pry side to side with their hips and ankles while relaxing the shoulders into full flexion. The lifter will pull themselves out of the hole with straight arms putting the lats on tension. At the top of the movement, the shoulders are retracted. The movement is repeated several times.
- Increases Core Temp
- Stretches Shoulders / Chest / Lats
- Improves Hip / Ankle Mobility
- Engages the Lats
- Activates Scapular Retractors
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By Smitty on February 12th, 2011
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Absolutely love this whole concept! Excited to try this out next training session.
Smitty,
You the man! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve implemented something very similar with a thick band. i hang it on the wall and perform various stances with squats to pulls. Great to loosening up my lower back and lats!
Then I’ll also hang the band from a pull up bar and do some more variations of squat rows.
These are great!
Hey Smitty,
Just thought I’d say I’ve added this into my warm up routine.
The final warm up exercise in my training log for the last three sessions reads:
Smitty squat rack stretch (3 different feet positions)
Thanks so much everyone!
@Justin – that is awesome!