PDXStrength News

Blog 4 – Warm Down and Cool Up

When I started writing this blog post, I thought it would be an interesting concept to write about warm-ups and cool-downs without an introduction and conclusion. But then I thought about how much I like each of you and wouldn’t put you through such a preposterous idea. Without such an introduction, there’s no hook, there’s no engagement. So here we are. BOOM. Introduction complete. 

Now, taking that concept in to PDX Strength –working out without warming up and cooling down– would be just as preposterous. For those of you who have been in class for a long time, you know that we try to start every session with a question of the day (my FAVORITE thing), move through a warm-up together, work into some combination skill/strength/metcons, and then depending on time have some structured or suggested cool down (AKA wellness). 

Even though we are at home and our routines are a little less structured, we can find success bringing this type of structure to our home workouts. Having an intentional warm up can be very helpful to break through the sluggishness we might feel right before we workout – yes, even if that takes up some of the already limited amount of time we have. 

But where do you start? We can start by simplifying what we’re talking about. An appropriate warm-up should elevate the heart rate, drum up a little sweat, and make us breathe a little heavier. That’s the main goal every time. Start on a larger scale – run, jump, burpee – then move to a more targeted effort – squat, push-up. If we have limited time we could go out for a run around the block, or do something like “Roxanne” – play the song, burpee every time “Roxanne” is said. 

For a cool down, we want to shoot for the opposite – slow the heart rate, body relaxes a bit, and we control our breath – a walk around the block, active stretches or yoga, intentional control of our breath. In a cool down, we will never get back to a resting state, but we can start the process. 

Think about a warm up and a cool down as an introduction and a conclusion of a blog. It just makes for a better story… Conclusion.

Coach Dylan

Welp, here we are again. Week 2 – Blog 3. We have started our member check-ins at the gym and are excited to try out the Zoom Meeting yoga. We’re also very excited and proud of how all of you are staying engaged with us. I’d encourage all of you to also stay engaged with fellow members as you can too. Coaches are a small part of the culture, members are at the heart of PDX Strength.

With that said, a short conversation in response to a recurring conversation about – “what do I do now?” 

Carrying a theme over from the last blog, many of you have checked out equipment, but maybe not enough weight to do a linear progression or progressive overloading of movements, so we are finding yourself in the situation of not knowing what the next step is. 

My advice would be to start from the beginning. Work light, prioritize technique, add volume (as opposed to weight). We have the opportunity to work on our fundamentals because we aren’t confined by class time – some of us may find that we have more or less than that.  Since we don’t have face-to-face time:

• Pick a movement.
• Google/YouTube – “How to…”
• Find multiple sources – I’m always an advocate of learning from multiple people. All coaches have different styles. You may find some one that speaks more directly to you than we do. Pro tip – AVOID any “motivational” video or personality. 
• Try it out.  Really search for feeling priority muscle groups.
• Put it an EMOM – 10 minutes, work intentionally for about :30/minute.
• Try again in a few days. 

What we are shooting for here is high quality repetitions to build a better foundational movement pattern and to turn on some of the supporting muscle groups that we may have deconditioned over time. Patterning is an essential component to building strength and one of the biggest limiting factors in our ability to progressively build muscle capacity and strength because poor movement patterns are highlighted under heavier loading. 

I’ll be honest this is going to take diligence and discipline. It is a hard move to shift from feeling a heavy squat to feeling a light squat. BUT! Lucky for us, our bodies respond to new stimulus so if we are prioritizing a new feeling over loading we will see results. AND we when come back to the gym re-tooled, we will be more prepared than ever for that squat cycle that never seems to end. 

Be Safe. Move Well. 

D

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