If you’re into exercise or an athlete, I’m sure that you’re familiar with warm-ups. More recently, you’ve probably heard the term primer thrown around too. As active people we have been doing warm-ups our whole lives. So is a primer the same thing? This week we are discussing doing a primer or a warm-up. Find out the difference between the two and why I compare one of them to swatting at a piñata vs. specific target practice.
Warm-Ups
If you’re an athlete I’d bet you have your regular warm-up routine down like the back of your hand. What does it consist of? I can tell you when I was in competitive, mine consisted of a light jog, some karaoke and skips down the hallway, followed by some full body stretching. Your warm-up helps you by getting your heart rate up, raising the temperature of your body, and getting blood flowing to your muscles. It’s good for your full body and general muscle warmth. What more do you need? Have you considered that it might not be setting you up for the most successful work out or sports activity possible?
Primers
Priming your body means taking specific exercises to target an area that you know has limitations. These tailored movements help the area improve it’s mobility, stability, and strength. By doing these targeting exercises to “wake up” your problem area, it helps your nervous system to understand what you’re really asking your body to do. Then, when you go to perform the activity, your muscle is ready to fire and work for you. Which means you’re reinforcing that better movement pattern. This results in better performance in the moment and translates to better performance in the long run. Next let’s get into my favorite analogy yet about what you should do, a primer or a warm-up.
Primer or a Warm-Up
Let’s give a comparative example. If you have any imbalances or problem areas doing a general warm up is kind of like trying to hit a piñata. You close your eyes, spin around 3 times, and then try to hit that piñata in a very specific place. It’s not practical and let’s be real. We are probably going to miss. Comparatively, the primer is like shooting a bow and arrow. You set up, you take time, you aim right at the target. Maybe that wasn’t the best analogy because we don’t all have great aim, but you know what I mean! The more we practice having good movement patterns, the better we get at it. Eventually you’ll be shooting bullseyes all the time.
At Mobility-Doc we think everyone can benefit from priming. Primers can easily be done in place of a warm up and completed in 10 minutes. If you stop doing general stretching and strengthening exercises and start targeting your problem areas, you will see improvement in your performance. I’m not saying that a general full body warm up is bad. I’m just saying that primers are better.
If you have a lot of time, you can do both a general warm-up and a primer. Unless you really enjoy doing that kind of work, who wants to waste the time? We strongly recommend you consider using a primer that targets your problem areas before your exercise or athletic activity. If you’re doing squats, try out the one below and see how it can improve your work out!
Are you looking for more great primers and inspirational exercises? Check out our MDOnline page to see all of the amazing programs we offer. We have something for everyone. Become part of our MDFit community to build your foundation with new primers every month!
