My thoughts on warming up

Okay - please forgive me if I am re-posting old veteran wisdom - but I just had a thought that seemed appropriate for the newbie forum (I’m a newbie myself)

It seems many guys often ask about whether or not a warm up is really necessary… in short - probably not - but keep reading…

I initially had the same views on PE warm up as I did with warm ups in the gym: I thought they were simply an insurance policy against “possible” injury. Alas, I said to myself - “I’ll be fine - I don’t get injured” as foolish as that sounds I’ve been okay so far.

But as I continued weight training I came to realise that a proper warm up made me stronger for my sets!, and stretching in-between sets made me stronger too! basically - overall performance is improved.

so, to relate this back to PE: a warm up might not be “essential” but if it makes for better, faster gains then it’s a no-brainer

If you want an animal in your pants, do it right!

The best warmups in the gym are low intensity exercises that are just like what you will be doing. i.e. bodyweight squats before barbell squats. Using that wisdom, shouldn’t a PE’er warm up with low intensity stretches/jelqs?

I think, well, I know PE isn’t an exact science. What works for someone might not work for others. It’s something that is probably universally good, but there are quite a few people I’ve read about who have achieved good results without warming.

hey dat, I only use the gym analogy to illustrate the tendency (which I share) to sometimes avoid doing something we should be doing - purely because its boring. I have no place in offering advice on how a PE’er should warm up… other than to listen to the guys who are more experienced than I.

My philosophy is - if there’s a chance it might make no difference, a chance it will make you better, and pretty much no chance that it will make things worse - then it’s worth the 5 minutes.

Like you say - something that is probably universally good.