Stretching has long been touted as the most effective muscle injury prevention mechanism available, and thus is used by numerous bodybuilders prior to weight training workout sessions to reduce the risk of muscle strains and tears. Much time is spent performing various types of stretches depending upon which muscle is focused upon, and there is no doubt that increasing flexibility can allow for superior range of motion during weight training exercises, and also can reduce the likelihood of various muscle injuries.

Yet, despite the advantages of stretching, for the bodybuilder who is hoisting heavy poundage during weight training workouts, there is a far more effective injury prevention technique that can be executed in concert with, or even in lieu of stretching, and is ignored by far too many bodybuilders. Warm up sets are, by far, the most powerful weight training workout injury avoidance method, as they prepare a muscle for upcoming stress, and when integrated properly within a weight training workout plan, they can prevent the pain and discomfort that often surfaces in muscles and joints.

We realize that fully depressing the gas pedal on an automobile shortly after starting its engine can cause great damage, as the oil has yet to circulate through the various sections of the engine, and operating a vehicle at full power when engine temperature has yet to rise will greatly boost the opportunity for potential engine failure, and although we all apply this wisdom to our automobile by way of a prerequisite engine warm up period, many bodybuilders neglect to use the same idea on their own body, which acts nearly identical to an automobile in such circumstances, except instead of allowing oil to circulate through the engine compartments and forcing engine temperature to slowly rise, we are attempting to increase blood flow into the muscles so that they are ready to handle heavy weights during an intense weight training workout session. By doing so, the muscles, like an automobile engine, are in essence lubricated, preparing them for intense stress that follows, but when warm up sets are avoided, the muscles are forced to perform at maximum capacity from a cold state, and can easily experience injuries ranging in severity from minor muscle strains to major tears.

Many bodybuilders may worry that performing warm ups will negatively impact the amount of weight used during a workout set, but this is not only false, but surprisingly to many, the opposite is true, meaning that by performing warms ups properly, the muscle are capable of lifting greater amounts of weight during a workout set than if they were attempting to perform the weight training exercise without any warm up efforts, which makes this method much more attractive to those who wish to achieve maximum muscle gain. But even if warm ups were not to offer this substantial benefit, the injury prevention advantage itself is extremely important to any bodybuilder who has a long term vision, as other than improper weight training workout and bodybuilding diet techniques creating lackluster progress, the next likely reason why most bodybuilders never achieve desired muscle gain is due to injuries derailing consistency, and one reason why this occurs is that far too many bodybuilders avoid proper warm up sets for every weight training exercise.

My friend decided to perform some weight training exercises in my basement, and he expressed interest in testing his squat strength, so I urged him to warm up prior to doing so, but he ignored my advice, and shortly thereafter, he suffered an agonizing lower back injury. As he and so many have shown, warm ups are one of the most important yet often ignored keys to maximum muscle gain, but make sure not to select warm up weights that are excessive, otherwise you will adversely impact your actual weight training workout sets, but you should also avoid selecting weights that are too light, as this will not properly prepare a muscle for pending workout stress. The correct balance has you using a weight for warm ups that does not result in any fatigue, but which properly stimulates blood flow to the muscles you wish to train, and also make sure to always engage in warm ups for each weight training exercise, as there is no available total body warm up technique that can replace performing each specific workout movement with lighter weight. Warm ups should not extend your weight training session length significantly since such sets do not compel you to rest for longer than is necessary to change weight on the bar.