Freeletics is a high intensity form of exercise and it is vital to properly warm-up before doing any kind of exercies. It’s important to see a medical professional before starting any program if you have any kind of existing joint or ligament injuries. If your ankles, knees, or lower back are injured, this will drastically impact your Freeletics training routine.
The warm-up recommended by the creators of Freeletics is a dynamic warm-up that is designed to get your body warm, your muscles ready, and stretch your joints. This 10 minute dynamic routine will get your body moving and stretching at the same time increasing your body temperature.
Warm-Up Don’ts
Don’t try to do 20 minutes of cardio before a set. Sometimes the shorter workouts make us think that we need more, but this is not the case. The energy you use for the 20 minutes will be needed for the bodyweight exercises in the routines. The more energy (calories) you burn during a warm-up, the less energy you will have available to you, the less effective your workout.
Don’t skip the warm-up. This is a given.
Don’t just do static stretches instead of the dynamic warm-up. These movements are what we typically associate with getting ready to workout. The long holds of our limbs in static positions for 20 seconds. Most people don’t properly stretch anyway – they hold and then do that bounce thing. That doesn’t do you any good. Try to save all static stretching until the end, which comes with Freeletics.
Don’t rush it. The movements included in the warm-up, especially dynamic warm-up pro, purposely includes slow movements that use a lot of resistance. If you don’t “feel” it, go slower. Try to gauge where your body is at during the warm-up, it’s a sign of what’s to come and shouldn’t be rushed and never skipped!
Freeletics Warm-up Includes:
- Jumping jacks
- Squats
- Jumps
- Modified planks with arm raises
- Knee-highs
Important Tips to Prevent Injury
Properly warming-up will go a long way in helping you get the most out of each workout. However, a good warm-up may still not be enough to prevent injury, no matter what workout you’re doing.
Use Padded Fitness Mat
The biggest issue people run into are their wrists and hands hurting from the impact of doing push-ups and burpees. There is no avoiding the impact which is why it’s recommend you add a mat to your workout. You could do a towel, but it may not provide enough padding at first.
A ½ inch workout mat will provide enough padding for your wrists without losing the hard-floor support needed to stimulate your muscle fibers. A yoga mat, in our opinion is too thin and if you do have one, fold it in half to get additional padding.
Adjusting your hands during pushups to avoid pain can lead to bad form and could lead to shoulder injuries. If you decide to go without a mat, consider getting fitness gloves instead or in addition to. Shoulder injuries can really derail your training for week even months! The best way to ensure your shoulders stay healthy, aside from the fitness mat, is adding a movement practice to your weekly routine.
Use Workout Gloves
Any workout gloves would be fine, as long as they allow you to grip firmly and give you a small amount of padding. Gloves will come in handy especially when you start doing pullups. They are standard equipment for anyone who is going to be pounding their hands doing Freeletics.
We have setup a Freeletics starter kit for anyone interested in a quick list of products for starting your training.
Include a Movement Practice Routine
We hear ya… “A what?”
Importance of a Movement Practice
The gurus have spoken – including a movement practice into any workout routine is vital to overall join and ligament health. The goal of a movement practice is to stretch and move your shoulders, legs, torso, etc… within it’s natural movements to increase range of motion without hurting the tissue.
Movement practice is a fancy word for low-impact resistance training that allows you to move using its natural rotation abilities. Think yoga, Pilates, or simple kettle bell swings. These types of practices are low-impact and help increase range of motion, especially for the shoulders and glutes – injuries here can knock you out for weeks.
There are too many beginners out there getting injured their first or second week. Usually a shoulder strain, a pulled chest, or even a hamstring pull. Even though you warmed-up, you may be exceeding your natural range of motion during the workout and it can cause a serious issue.
Simple 15 Minute Yoga Session you can do before bed to help prepare you for next days workout:
Hips and Hamstrings:
Training like an athlete will put high demands on your hips and hamstrings. Your power and results depend on these parts of the body being ready for each workout. A 15 minute yoga session on your days off that help relieve the pressure will significantly improve your Freeletics performance.
Shoulders:
You will want to move your shoulders while lightly applying pressure so you strengthen the surrounding tissue. You don’t need to make it a workout, but doing short, 20 minute routines on your off-days will help tremendously. If you have not been active like this before, consider these suggestions as almost the rule. You’re going to thank us when you reach week 4!
Lower Back:
If you work a desk-job, chances are you sit and your lower back takes on a lot of pressure. The 1st thing you may want to consider is use a standing desk, the benefits are impressive and anyone who can, should stand at work.
If you do sit, or your posture is not where it needs to be, you will over compensate for this during the workout. The problem is that subtle adjustments throughout a high intensity workout to compensate for your posture is a ticking time-bomb. Many times you will notice that after a few days of workouts, especially the ones that force your core like Aphrodite or Metis, your lower back will take a beating. Your movement practice will help reduce any problems and increase your recovery as well.
Hope this helps!!
Warm-Down
The warm-down is included in the app. The movements are designed to open up the groin area and help bring your heart rate down. The movements include a set of 7 static stretches all focused on the lower body.
For a full, in depth look at the warm-up and warm-down, download the free version of the app and test it out yourself.
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