At Home Warm-up Routine

It’s now day 5 (at the time of this posting) of our “Shelter in Place” order in the Bay Area which includes our Palo Alto personal training and massage studio. Luckily we live in a time where we can connect live online and through social media. So here is a great warmup routine that I use ALL the time for my personal training clients, group classes, and my own personal workouts. This version is adapted to small spaces since we are typically working in a small space at home.

We are online both for classes and one on one personal training! All you need is a small space, a mat, and a pair of dumbbells. Additional equipment can be help, but not a must. ​

Keep up your workouts
Keep exercising during this tough and stressful time. There are many benefits from exercise with the most important ones right now being:

• Improving mood
• Relieving stress
• Loosening tight muscles
• Keeping a healthy immune system
• Increasing motivation to make healthy choices

Your workouts may not be the same, which is actually a good thing, but it will keep you in shape and feeling better. ​

What is a Dynamic Warmup?
My definition: A warmup that activates and stretches muscles though movements, and prepares the body for more strenuous exercise. It’s really an all in one warmup that works much better than the old school warmup of static stretch, jog, drill, and then hard exercise. Drills should still be done before more specific workouts like jumping, running, or sports training. This in-place version covers all the bases just as an outdoor version would. As mentioned in the video, this warmup can be quite hard for those who are not used to these exercises or this many in a row. Do 8-10 reps of each and take breaks as needed.  
 
Workouts can be done anywhere, just get creative
There’s been times in my past where I had to make routines out of very little equipment or limited space. When I moved back to the Bay Area in 2009 broke and living out of a small section of a garage (I didn’t get the whole garage, only ¼ of it.) I had two pairs of dumbbells and a mat. I remember doing various drills and calisthenics (similar to the video), and doing lots of step ups and jumps on the deck. There is a surprising amount you can do, you just need to get creative. Just look at workouts done in prison (I’ve never been, so not talking from experience :))!), they get in great shape and many don’t have much of a weight room anymore. Make use of any equipment collecting dust: jump ropes, bands, dumbbells, the ole ab cruncher, and put them to use.   
 
So keep up the in-home workouts and come out of this shelter ready for an exercise program that was better than before!