Regardless of your lifting program for the day a good warm-up is key to a good workout session. This post focuses on some key exercises for your shoulders which are used in any olympic lift. Optimize your warm up with these quick and easy exercises.
The exercises
1. Jumping Jacks As simple as it sounds jumping jacks will help get your heart rate up, increase the body’s temperature and improve blood flow to the body. The arm movements will initiate the beginning of your shoulder warm up.
2. Shoulder Raises Front and Side with Band This exercise helps to strengthen the shoulders. Make sure you are keeping good posture drawing the shoulder blades back and down and engage your core. The video shows the front raise. The exercise can also be performed by bringing the arms out to the side.
3. Standing Banded Row Use any type of resistance band wrapped around a post or rig. You can also change the angle of the row by bringing the band up higher on the post.
4. Inch Worm with Push Up This dynamic exercise helps to warm up the whole body. You can also pause in a “down dog” position after the push up as you start making your way back to the starting standing position.
5. PVC Pass Throughs Pass throughs open up the chest and shoulders and can also be used with your snatch grip. It also makes a good transition to warm up your lifts with the PVC pipe before your barbell warm up.
These 5 exercises are an efficient way to warm up before any lifting or workout session. The resistance band make it easy to modify the difficulty and intensity of the exercise. They will promote strength and flexibility in your shoulders. Keep in mind any of these exercises should be performed at your discretion and may need to be modified for your body especially if you are rehabbing from injury.
PACIFIC WEIGHTLIFTING 