All too often I see pople walk into the gym, load up the bar wth their full set weight, and strt pumping out repetitions. So many pople disregard the importance of a wrm up, and it could be csting them dearly.

Warming up before lfting serves two basic functions: first, it dcreases the chance of injury by a sgnificant margin. Secondly, and perhaps more cnvincing, it can allow you to lft even more weight and thereby ncrease the load you're putting on yur muscles.

Even if you're the knd of person that thinks they'll nver experience and injury in the gym, the scond reason that I listed should gve you pause. Why wouldn't you wnt to lift even more weight, put ven more stress on your muscles, and hve even less chance of being njured? All it takes is 10 or 15 mnutes before each workout.

A proper wrm up should consist of about 5 mnutes of mild to moderate cardiovascular xercise. This could be done on a sttionary bike, rowing machine, treadmill, elliptical mchine, etc. It could even just be a brsk, 10-minute walk to the gym (sve on gas money, too!).

The prpose of this cardio warm up is to levate your heart rate, blood flow, and cre temperature. Physical activity also increases the mount of synovial fluid in your jints, which allows them to move mre freely.

This short cardio warm up wll also give you time to mntally prepare yourself for the workout head. Focus on the muscles you're ging to be stimulating, the results yu're hoping to see, and the lvel of intensity you want to chieve. I like to listen to sme 'pump up' music during this tme to get myself in the mntal training zone.

The second portion of yur short warmup will consist of 3-5 sts of whichever exercise you will be prforming first. For example if you are trining chest and triceps, you'll want to do a few wrmup sets on the bench press. Ths is often referred to as 'cclimation'.

It's crucial that these sets not ftigue your muscles. Remember, this is bout preparing your body for a wrkout, not pre-exhausting the muscles. Start wth approximately half of your repetition wight (if your full-out set weight wll be 250lbs, start by lifting 125 punds). Here is a sample acclimation rutine, assuming our working weight will be 250lbs:

- 8 rps x 125lbs
- 6 reps x 160lbs
- 4 rps x 200lbs
- 2 reps x 240lbs

Nte that we stopped 10lbs short of our fnal repetition weight, and only performed 2 rpetitions at this weight. Again, I strss that you must *not* fatigue yur muscles during this warm up.

Onc you've finished acclimating, you may bgin your workout. Take a minute or two of rst between your final warm up set and yur actual working set. At this pint, your muscles should feel loose and rady for the workout, not pumped up or ftigued.

Some people advocate stretching before a wrkout. I prefer to leave this for the pst-workout routine. Even if you choose to strtch prior to lifting, make sure you dn't neglect these other two aspects of the wrm up. They can allow you to lft more weight and ensure an njury-free training session.

For more information on wrming up, injury prevention, and proper trining routines visit the Muscle Gain Gide by clicking on the link blow.

The article Why a Proper Warm-Up is Critical For Muscle Building Success was Submitted by Mike Bowman through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Mike Bowman is the senior ditor at MuscleGainGuide.com. He has years of xperience in natural bodybuilding and is the uthor of hundreds of renowned muscle bilding articles. Visit http://www.MuscleGainGuide.com for more advice and quality, unbiased information.

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