Obviously warming up is key before getting going at the gym. And there are a number of different exercises that you can do. One of the exercises, is called “The Superman”. The superman core exercise is a medium-intensity exercise that strengthens your lower back and core muscles by isolating them as you lift your arms and legs off the floor. As the name suggests, this exercise puts you in a position that emulates Superman while he flies.
Mike Hildebrandt, BS, CPT: “The Superman”. That’s right! And you’ll understand why we call it “The Superman” in just a minute here.
When you start a work out, when you first start warming up, you don’t want to just hop on an elliptical or a treadmill for a few minutes just to get your heart rate up. That’s a good idea too. But you want to make sure you do some exercises to prepare your body for the movement.
And for most people, because they sit down or they work in front of them, it’s the muscles on the front of their body that are too tight or already fired up. And so we want to make sure we wake up muscles on the back side of the body, especially before doing things like squats, or lunges or rows.
So we have an exercise called “The Superman”, that’s a great warm up exercise. So I’ll demonstrate that now:
To do this one, you want to lie down on your stomach. Put your arms out in front of you, and at the same time, lift up your arms and your legs, pause, and then come back down. So arms and legs same time, pause, then come down. By doing this, you’re going to help to fire up the gluts, you’re going to fire up the back, you’re going open up the chest and the shoulders. To, again, make your exercise that you’re about to do so much more effective.
So for most people, doing 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions, is enough to get your warmed up.
Dr. K: So yeah. Because most people, they get into the gym, they run, get their heart rate going on the treadmill, and then they get into the heavy machines. So actually, doing these kind of exercises prior to, is crucial, than to just fire everything out prior to.
Mike Hildebrandt, BS, CPT: Absolutely. It prepares your body for the movement you are about to do. Which is an important part of exercise that a lot of people neglect.