Before you think we’re railing against common advice for the sake of being counterintuitive, we’re not saying warmup exercises are bad. We’re just saying the way they are implemented is flawed and, in many cases, not supported by research.

In fact, all the way back in 2012 in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, more than 100 studies were reviewed and the takeaway was:

Stretching has not been shown to be effective at reducing the incidence of overall injuries.⁸⁸ While there is some evidence of stretching reducing musculotendinous injuries,⁸⁸ more evidence is needed to determine if stretching programs alone can reduce muscular injuries.³

If you want the benefits of warming up without dreading the typical process, we’ve tested dozens of different protocols on thousands of online fitness coaching clients and have found that there is a better way. 

The Benefits of a Warmup

The value of preparing your muscles to move can’t be understated. Your body needs to be ready for the stress of lifting weights, running, or performing a sport. If your muscles are warm and prepared, then they can generate more force and move more weight.

More importantly, preparing a muscle to move, produce force, change direction, or push the limits just doesn’t happen on its own. When you try to force it. That’s when injuries happen. 

A cold muscle is like a cold rubber band. To understand, think about the elasticity of a rubber band. You can stretch it, and the more you pull back, the more energy you can generate.

Now, imagine freezing the rubber band overnight. It changes everything. What was once easy-to-move is now stiff; what once took an incredible amount of force to break can now easily snap.

So, warming up your muscles is a good idea. But, how you do it doesn’t need to follow the usual routine.

How To Design A Better Workout Warmup

Most warmup routines are long and onerous (not to mention uncomfortable), which makes it something you dread. And because it’s right there at the beginning of your workout, it can feel like a reason to not show up at all, or you skip the warmup…and find yourself injured. We’ve all been there.

So, what if you changed everything about your warmup routine.

Yeah, you heard us right. We’re not saying you have to stop warming up. As we’ve pointed out, warm-ups are great. But, they aren’t so helpful if they sabotage your workout motivation.

So, we recommend a different option. Instead of a long warmup, we focus on just 1-2 exercises to get started. Here is our favorite 1-exercise warm-up.

And then, thanks to the advice of our longtime friend and contributing fitness expert Tony Gentilcore, we add workout fillers.

Fillers are a way to address trouble spots and tight areas during your workout, simply by doing them between sets. So, instead of worrying about all of the exercises you need to do before starting your workout, you implement strategic exercises into your workout to help you move better, prevent injury, and train harder.

Basically, you make use of your one- to three-minute-long rest periods by doing some easy muscle activation drills or mobility work. (Note the word “easy.” These are not meant to be supersets.)

“We always provide warm-ups for clients, but we also know not everybody does them,” says Born Fitness Head Coach B.J. Ward.

“That’s where fillers come in. We can plug in some movements that are going to help them move better and get stronger pain-free while they rest between sets. It doesn’t “feel” like you’re doing much but we end up sneaking in a lot of extra work in.”

If you’re new to workout fillers, Gentilcore goes a little deeper into the basics in this post, which also covers fillers for deadlifting. In a second post, he explains other techniques to help you squat better.

If you’re already familiar with fillers, then you’ll still want to tune in. Why? Because his deadlift tips are on-point. If you’ve struggled with squats or deadlifts, or just felt “off” whenever you’ve tried them, the mobility drills he shows could help you get moving and grooving better. (And if there’s one thing to know about our man Tony, it’s that the dude can deadlift like a boss.)

The Best Warmup Exercises

If you’re already sold on fillers or just want a great movement to prepare you for your favorite (or hardest) exercises, Coach Ward has your back. Here are some additional moves he recommends as fillers within workouts, or as a primary warmup movement before your workout. (Click a move to see a video demonstration.)

Warmup Exercises For Squats 

1. 90/90 Hip Switch
2. Combat Stretch Ankle Mobility

Warmup Exerciser for Deadlifts:

1. Dead Bug Breathing

Warmup Exercise for Bench Press:

1. Adductor Quadruped Rockback

Surprised? Here’s Ward on why a lower body mobility move can help you when you bench: “Most of us sit all day. The more mobility work we can throw in to unglue our hips, the better. And secondly, opening up the front of your hips can help you get into a better position on the bench press. We ask lifters to get their feet under their knees and squeeze the glutes during the bench press setup. If you’ve opened up the front of your hips it’s easier to lock into this position.

How to Perform Warmup Movements

For each warmup movement, perform 3-5 reps per side. Do only as many sets as necessary so that you feel a little more fluid, your muscles feel warm, and your range of motion has improved. In many cases, just 1-2 sets will suffice.

While we have these fillers paired with the “big 3 lifts,” you don’t have to bench, squat, or deadlift in order to use them. Try them between sets of any similar upper or lower body exercise.

And remember, for a super-efficient warm-up, here’s our favorite movement that will get your body prepared in less than 5 minutes.

Interested In A Custom Coaching Plan?

At Born Fitness, we know every individual is unique. There’s no one-size-fits-all plan. Our team can develop a plan around your lifestyle to help you reach your goals.

If you like the idea of fillers that we talked about above but aren’t sure where to start, more personalization and hands-on support through our online coaching program may be right for you. Every client is assigned two coaches — one for nutrition and one for fitness. Find out more here. 

READ MORE: 

The Surprising Science Benefits of The 5-Minute Walk

The Art Of The Deload

The Best Stretch For Your Body (In Less Than 5 Minutes)

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Quick Warm-Up Routines That Will Change How You Exercise appeared first on Born Fitness.

If you’ve ever thought about adding resistance band exercises to your routine — or are limited to working out at home and don’t have much equipment — you might be surprised by how much you can accomplish without any iron.

How Can You Use Resistance Bands in Your Workout?

Resistance bands can be used for at least four different types of exercises:

• Stretching and mobility
• Warm ups and muscle activation
• Resistance training and “getting a pump”
• Developing the “mind-muscle” connection (learning to better “feel” your muscles working)

Each of these goals require you to use the bands slightly differently, but with each example, you can accomplish quite a bit with just a few bands.

Resistance Band Stretches and Mobility Work

Resistance band stretches can help you overcome the hardest part of stretching — feeling like you are limited by the range of motion in your muscles. You know this as “feeling tight.” (A.K.A. “I’m not flexible!”). Funny as it might sound, the limitation might really be in your head, or in another part of your body.

Think about a simple hamstring stretch, where you lie on your back with one leg on the floor and raise the other leg to the sky. Most of the time you use your hands to provide resistance. Simply looping a resistance band around your ankle can create a different movement pattern (because the pressure of pulling comes at a different angle — from your ankle instead of behind your knee), which might allow you to generate more range of motion.

It’s not magic, but most people will find they can get a better stretch with the resistance band variation. That’s because a resistance band can help you go deeper into a stretch, provide support, or help reduce the load of your bodyweight when you perform a move. That’s why many trainers consider bands to be a “must” for maximizing your mobility.

There are limitless ways you can use resistance bands to assist you when you stretch. Here are two examples—one for your upper body, one for your lower body.

Banded Lat Stretch

https://youtu.be/gjRMe2Bcbu4

Loop a band around something at least 6 inches over your head, such as a pull up bar. Grab the band with one arm and step back, so that you band forms a 45- to -60 degree angle to the floor. Get into a staggered stance and put one knee on the floor. Your arm should be in a straight line and aligned with the band.

Lean forward slightly so that your torso is perfectly aligned with your arm. (It will look like the band is an extension of your arm. You could draw a straight line from your hips all the way up to the top of the band where it’s attached to the pull up bar). Hold this position so you feel a stretch in your back.

Do 5 deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, and then switch sides.

Band Supported Leg Lowering 

https://youtu.be/TY6RmPbKqe0

Lie flat on your back and then bring both of your legs up towards the ceiling. Your legs and body should form the shape of a “L.”

Wrap a band around the arch of one of your feet and hold it stable. Keep both of your knees locked out by squeezing your quadriceps muscles and pointing your toes towards your shins.

Lower your leg that does not have the band around it until either A) you feel tightness in your hamstring, or B) you feel pain in your back (this is bad) or don’t feel stable in your core. When either of those things happen, stop, then reverse the movement and lift the leg back up.

Ideally, you’ll take 2 seconds to lower your leg, then take 2 seconds to lift your leg back up using your core muscles. Perform 1-2 sets of 5 repetitions per leg as a part of your warmup, or pair with a lower body movement such as stiff-legged deadlifts.

Resistance Band Exercises for Muscle Activation

Resistance band exercises can be used to strengthen or activate hard-to-hit muscles. For example, your shoulders are two areas that most people have troubling “feeling.” Because of continuous tension, bands are an effective way to help activation and work those muscles without supporting muscles taking over.

Band pull-aparts are a fantastic way to warm up your shoulders. Remember how bands help create more tension throughout the movement? Tension means more blood flow. More blood flow means you’re muscles will feel warm. It’s like adding oil to a squeaky break.

When performing the movement, make sure you don’t have too much slack in the band, because if you do that takes the tension off of your shoulders. The band pull-apart is also effective because it works your shoulders in a pattern that is often overlooked.

Think about how much time you spend at your desk with your shoulders slouched. The band pull-apart works the opposite range of motion, meaning it helps pull your shoulders back into their correct alignment, improving your posture.

Better posture means less pain. And because you’re pulling the band apart, that means you have maximum tension with minimum weight. This is something that isn’t always easy with weights like dumbbells.

Band Pull-aparts 

https://youtu.be/vBhetF3Cyew

Here’s how to do it: Grip the opposite ends of a long (about 40 inches is typical) resistance band. You can mix up your hand position, from prone (thumbs facing one another) to neutral (thumbs facing the ceiling) to supinated (thumbs pointed away from one another).

Position your hands about shoulder width apart, or at a distance where you feel a little tension in the band. From there, pull your hands outward as wide as you can.

Pause and squeeze the muscles in your upper back and shoulders, then reverse directions and bring your hands back toward one another (back to the starting position), and repeat. Focus on keeping your shoulders down and back throughout the entire movement.

Perform 3 sets of 15-30 repetitions.

Mini-Band Lateral Walks

Remember how pull aparts were great for your shoulders? These lateral band walks can do the same for your glutes and help them wake up.

Place the band above your knees. Spread your legs wide enough that you feel tension across the band. (Consider this an athletic position, like a baseball player about to field a ground ball.) Take one leg and step out to the side. Then, follow with your other leg, making sure you maintain tension on the band throughout the movement.

Walk for 10-15 steps in one direction (i.e. from left to right) then switch and go for the same distance in the opposite direction (from right to left).

Goblet Squats

Place the mini-band around your legs just above the knees. Hold a dumbbell vertically against your chest with both of your hands supporting the weight underneath. Press your elbows inward against your rib cage, which activates the muscles in your upper back.

Squat down by pushing your hips back and pressing your knees outward against the mini-band. Doing so activates your glutes and helps you steer clear of knee pain. Lower yourself down until your elbows touch the insides of your knees, then press through your feet to stand back up.

Resistance Band Exercises for Building Muscle

No matter what some people might insist, weights are not the only way to build muscle. Weights are effective because they add resistance. Bands also provide resistance, meaning they also can help you build muscle.

In particular, bands might be most effective when doing higher rep training, such as performing 20 to 30 reps (or more) per set (this is known as “metabolite training”).

Research has repeatedly shown that building muscle is somewhat dependent on volume — or the number of reps x sets x weight. Because you have 3 variables you can manipulate, bands provide a way to increase volume (through more reps) without needing more weight.

This approach works for any muscle in your body — from arms and shoulders, to your chest, back and even your butt. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried Bret Contreras’s glute burnout. Here is another example of how you can use bands to achieve some metabolic glute work:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYPHRU-B8w3/?taken-by=l2fitnessyeg

Resistance Band Exercises and the Mind-Muscle Connection

The mind-muscle connection is something that not everyone is familiar with but it can make a huge difference in your training. Basically, it’s about using your brain to drive more effort from your muscles. If that sounds a little crazy, rest assured it’s a real thing. (Here’s proof.) And with the help of resistance bands, you can develop it.

Resistance bands are useful way to build that connection because the farther you pull the band and the more it lengthens, the harder your muscles have to work.

The increased tension provides a strong peak contraction at the top of every rep. You’ll really feel those muscles working. Want to take it up another notch? Add in a pause at the top. (Ooh, it burns!)

What are the Limits of Resistance Bands?

Like anything, there are always some limitations. For instance, resistance bands don’t necessarily challenge your muscles through a full range of motion.

Lifting weights consists of a raising portion (the concentric) and a lowering portion (the eccentric). The eccentric phase of a lift is the part where you are lowering the weight back down, and it’s beneficial for both muscle growth and improving muscle control.

They feel lighter on your muscles as the bands themselves get shorter. As we discussed above, that may be great from an injury prevention standpoint. But since eccentric muscle actions are where we elicit the most muscle damage in training, using bands alone might limit the amount muscle you can build.

Bands can also make measuring your resistance a little tricky. Part of adding muscle is creating a challenge for your muscles. That’s why bands work — they add resistance. At some point, however, your body will adapt to resistance. This is why you might stop seeing results. Your body adapts, and you need to keep creating a new challenge in order to fight off plateau.

There are many ways to do steer clear of plateaus, however. You can make an exercise more challenging (if you are doing band rows with both arms, you can switch to a 1-arm version with the same band, which will make it more difficult), or you can add weight. This is where dumbbells and barbells have an obvious advantage, as you can just use bigger weights.

But don’t stress too much. Your hand placement, the distance between you and where the band is anchored, and how far the band is stretched can all be used to increase or decrease the resistance. You can also user thicker bands (which has more resistance) or even add multiple bands.

At some point — yes — you might need to add more weight to create a bigger challenge. But as long as you continue to find ways to challenge your muscles (which can also occur by doing more reps and/or sets of an exercise), your resistance band workout will keep delivering results.

The Resistance Band Workout for Building Muscle

Want to give resistance band exercises a try? Here’s a sample upper and lower body workout designed for building muscle.

Upper Body Resistance Band Workout
1) Band pull-aparts: 4 x 15-20 reps x 60s rest
2A) Band pushups: 3 x 10-20 x 45s
2B) Band 2-arm rows: 3 x 15-20 x 45s
3A) 1-arm band row: 3 x 8-15/arm x 45s
3B) 1-arm band chest press: 3 x 8-12/arm x 45s
4A) Band overhead triceps extension – 3 x 12-20 x 45s
4B) Band biceps curls – 3 x 12-15 x 45s

Lower body Resistance Band Workout
1) Mini-band lateral walks: 4 x 15-20/side x 60 seconds
2) Band leg curl: 3 x 15-20 x 60s
3) Rear foot elevated split squat (can add band for resistance): 4 x 12-15 x 60s
4A) Band good morning: 3 x 20-25 x 60s
4B) Walking lunges: 3 x 10-15/leg x 60s
5) Band iso hold Pallof press: 4 x 30s/side x 60s

READ MORE: 

How to Build the Perfect Bodyweight Workout

How to Master the Art of Old School Muscle Building

The Tension Weightlifting Technique: How to Make Every Exercise More Effective

References

1. Pull, Ranson (2007) Eccentric muscle actions: Implications for injury prevention and rehabilitation.


2. Schoenfeld BJ (2010) The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training.


3. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW (2017) Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.


Landon Poburan is the owner of L2 Fitness in Edmonton, Canada. The L2 Fitness Summit is a video series that includes 11+ hours of muscle building ideas from our friends Dr. Mike Israetel and Dean Somerset. If you’re a coach, or just super into getting swole (Israetel) while staying awesomely mobile and balanced (Somerset), then you may seriously enjoy this product, which is on sale for $50 off through December 10th at midnight. And coaches: You get CEUs! Full disclosure: We here at Born Fitness get absolutely nothing for telling you about this product — we are not affiliates and have no financial stake involved. 

Landon Poburan

Personal trainer, nutrition coach and owner of L2 Fitness located in Edmonton, AB Canada.

l2fitness.com/

The post How to Use Resistance Band Exercises in Your Workouts appeared first on Born Fitness.

As time went on the fad turned out to be a trend you couldn’t ignore. Gyms made them standard fare, athletes started rolling before games, and next thing you know everyone was rolling with the movement.

At this point, you probably know it’s “good” for your body—but what does that actually mean? After all, you have limited time, so you want hard hitting answers. Because on thing is certain: you can foam roll all day but that won’t give you bigger biceps.

The biggest enemy of progress is lack of consistency and injuries. When you don’t warmup you’re placing your body at a greater risk of injury.

If you look at research, foam rolling and mobility work doesn’t show much in the way of, “Do this warmup and you will build more muscle.” Part of the reason is SMR (self myofascial release, the fancy name for rilloing) is relatively new to the workout world so research is limited. Stretching is as old as the sun, but there are so many mixed reviews that it’s almost more of a personal preference.

That said, understanding the benefits of foam rolling can make it easier to determine how 5 to 10 minutes of soft tissue work before a workout could be the first domino that accelerates the gain train.

Instead of viewing your warmup as cause and effective, think of it as part of a system, with each part playing a role in enhancing another element of muscle growth. Specifically, a great warmup prepares your body for the stress of lifting weights.

If your muscles are warm and prepared, then they can generate more force and move more weight. And on any program, you know this is a part of packing on new size.

Maybe more importantly, the warmup keeps you in the one place you need to be to grow: the gym.

The biggest enemy of progress is lack of consistency and injuries. When you don’t warmup you’re placing your body at a greater risk of injury. Why? A cold muscle is like a cold rubber band. Ever frozen something seemingly pliable? It changes everything. What was once easy-to-move is now stiff; what once seemed unbreakable can now easily snap.

This is the hidden value of foam rolling. A little pre-workout prep (or even work on off days) can help keep you injury-free. Is this full-proof? Of course not. I’ve seen guys who can come in after a 15-minute walk in the snow and bust out a 300-pound deadlift with no problem. But that’s the exception to the rule.

Put differently: There’s a reason athletes go through such a rigorous pregame routine. It’s not to make them jump higher or run faster. it’s to prevent injury in a situation where there’s lots of stress on your body.

If you want to lift without insurance, then that’s your choice. Personally, for 5-10 minutes, it’s not a risk I’d take.

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post Does Foam Rolling Help You Build Muscle? appeared first on Born Fitness.

But I was a mess. More accurately, I was a hurt, achy, mess—which is not a good combination when you’re still in your mid-to-late twenties. And it’s especially bad when you’re supposed to sharing information with millions of people designed to help them look and feel better. The result: my workout mistakes were passed down to you.

When I look back, it’s easy to see the workout mistakes I was making. About every three months I would suffer some sort of injury or setback. And while I was training hard, the sessions were painful. My joints hurt. My strength increases were fewer and farther between, and in all honesty, my body just wasn’t changing that much.

Turns out, the problem was me and my approach to exercise.

Everything became clear on a trip to Fair Lawn, NJ, in 2008 and my first meeting with Martin Rooney. I was there to observe his NFL combine prep at the Parisi Speed School. But like most assignments, instead of just observing I threw myself into the fire and competed with several soon-to-be NFL players.

My “a-ha” moment happened within the first 15 minutes. That’s when Martin put me through a warmup that literally changed how I start every workout. I had seen many warmups before, written stories about the benefits of a “dynamic” approach, and read enough research on the stretching vs. not stretching topic to never want to discuss the topic again.

But Rooney’s approach was different. The “warmup” was harder than some workouts I had performed. By the time I was done, my heart was pumping, my face was flushed, and my body was lathered in sweat. As I tried to catch my breath, the NFL hopefuls just laughed.

“You’ve been Rooney’D,” was the ongoing joke.

Shift Your Mindset

Most people would think that such a challenging start would wreck havoc on your training. After all, why waste all that energy on a warmup?

Because great workouts are not guaranteed. If you want them consistently, then you have to put in a little extra work before you start.

After the warmup, I went through a training session that could only be described as the best I’d felt in years. There were no aches or pains. No uncomfortable range of motion.  I set a PR on a few lifts, including the bench–an exercise that I’m known for avoiding because of past injuries in my shoulders.

Just like that, my understanding of why warmups need to be performed was crystallized. The analogy I commonly use is to compare your unprepared muscles to a cold, frozen, rubber band. What happens to a frozen rubber band? It doesn’t work all that well and it can snap very easily. The same concept applies to your muscles.

You don’t just walk into a gym and train. You must prepare for every workout and prepare your muscles to generate energy, have more elasticity, and be prepared to be put to use. Ignoring that reality is a mistake far too many people make.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve adjusted my approach. Some people need a lot of warmup time and others need a little. Some can even do their “warmup” with work done outside the gym. But for the average lifter, some warmup is needed that goes beyond walking on the treadmill or cranking out a few light sets of an exercise. That approach will save your body, your muscles, and most importantly—lead to better workouts.

Why NOT Warming Up is a Big Mistake

I recently had the chance to catch up with Rooney, and I mentioned my life-changing training session.

If I can’t convince you to spend a little more time warming up, here’s what the world-famous strength coach, and creator of the Training for Warriors system, has to say about the importance of starting your workout the right way.

As you know (and have experienced) I am not only big on warmups, but I consider the Warmup the cornerstone of Training for Warriors training. A common mistake in training, however, is to use either an inadequate or no warmup at all before training.  Since a trainee often thinks training itself is great at getting the heart rate up and increases core temperature, they often skip a warmup completely and jump head-first into the session.

In most of the training books and DVDs out there, a warmup is quickly glazed over as if it is unimportant. This is definitely not the case and unfortunately sets the tone as if it doesn’t count. 

There are a number of reasons I cite using a proper warmup. A proper warmup is first and foremost about injury prevention. If you are injured you cannot train.  If you are injured because of an improper warmup, this is a training tragedy.  

A proper warmup can be used to increase heart rate and blood flow to and the temperature of the muscles. This increase in blood flow and temperature will lead to improved strength and power development. With this increase in strength and power, a proper warmup can also be used to increase speed of movement, balance and neuromuscular stimulation.

Because a warmer muscle can be a more pliable muscle, a proper warmup can be used to increase flexibility. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I use a proper warmup as an opportunity for my athletes and clients to focus on the upcoming workout and set the tone for the session. The warmup is the buffer between your life in and outside of training.

As far as upgrading your mindset, I would remind you that the warmup is not something to get THROUGH, it is something to get FROM.  Take it seriously, hold people accountable for their technique and use that time as a powerful opportunity to improve in your coaching and presenting skills.

A Quick Guide to Less Pain and More Gain

Even after everything I learned from Rooney, I’ve continued to refine my warmups and find what works for me and others. Here’s a look at my most common warmup and something I frequently use with most of my online clients. This will typically take about 10 minutes. If you’re looking for something shorter, you can try this routine that I put together for STACK Magazine.

Bird dog 2 sets x 8-10 reps per side

Elbow to instep 2 sets x 8-10 reps per leg

Hip Flexor Stretch 1 x 30 seconds per leg

Thoracic Rotation 1 x 10 reps per side

Lunge and Reach 1 x 10 reps

Hip raise 2 x 12 reps

Wall Slides 2 x 10 reps

Seal Jumps 1 x 20 reps

Scap Pushups 1 x 12 reps

Adam Bornstein

Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.

The post The Most Common Workout Mistake appeared first on Born Fitness.