Why do you warm up?

There are probably several really fundamental reason why we warm up, a lot have to do with some nuero musclular systematic things. Some have to do with blood flow in your muscles. Some may have to do with sparking up your Central nervous system, or "waking that up". There are all sorts of reasons. Some "regular" people would just say -so we dont pull muscles, so we dont get hurt.
I warm up so my work out doesnt suck. So lets build off of that. Because as GFHer's go, we want the most of our workouts, we want them to be productive, efficient, and well... not shitty.
Here is an example:
My workout was push lower, so I am going into the gym ready to do 8x3. My aim is not to max or go crazy, but the heavier I can go with the weight still feeling light is fucking ideal. So I want that. We all want that. But when its crowded and its 7 am I dont always think straight, I am caught off guard. So I rack the bar onto my back with 225 and rep out 5 or 8 times, something like that. Trying to get he blood flowing. I have a paper to write ina few hours and I'm thinking about finals coming up. Im distracted and neglect the fact that I really dont have time to do a proper warm up.
And it showed.
I put 315 on the bar ready to slam 3 reps off the box grunt and get it over with so I can put some man weight on. And it just doesnt happen.... at all. I do the 3 resp and I'm tight, not sweaty, yawning, and distracted. I'm desperately trying to get some sort of a warm up but nothing really seems to help. It sucks, and the feeling is mutual between me and gravity. Gravity wants to do its thing and I want to resist it. but today my friends, gravity got the best of me.
Day 2. Pull workout.
Time to shine, dead lift time right? I swore 405 never felt fucking lighter. What happened btween that monday and tuesday? A warm up. Day 2 I went into the gym, got on the stupid tredmill in front of the news I iether dont care about or dont under stand. ANd ran my 5 or 6 minutes fast slow fast slow fast slow fast slow untill i get sick of watching stupid TV. I'm breathing heavy and sweating. My final put on the treadmill is a full out sprint for 15 seconds. WAKE THAT CNS UP, get it going, crack it up do whatever it takes, its literally the backbone of our work outs. So I take Charle Fransis' advice and do so. I feel wonderful. I take it a step further, as I usually do, and warm up my gluts and abs thoroughly. Spend extra time on these things, all the whileworking through some really light stuff on dead, 135 185 225 275 a few times each, really get it cranking. When I am ready to start my sets at 355 I wait 3 minutes to catch my breath, recharge ATP (yeah buddy) drink water and chalk up. I pulled like a mother fucker that day and the difference is my warm up.
So now Why do we warm up? We warm up becuase we want the most and best out of our workouts. Lift heavy get stronger. So how do we properly warm up?
There are tons of ways to acutally warm up. I am sure everyone has thier own philophy. In the interest of my time in the weight room I make it as simple as possible.
tread mill walk/job for total 5-6 minutes.
GHR 10 reps
Decline abs 10 reps.
Rack on a starting weight for bench/squat/dead (Usually 135, the universal warm up weight) x5 times.
repeat GHR and abs steps.
Repeat starting weight.
Repeat GHR and abs steps.
I work my way up with my starting weights like I mentioned above, all while working in the GHR and abs. Sometimes push ups and things along those lines. For example, when I squat I usually do some good mourning with 135. Blood flow, get sweaty. If you arent sweating by the time you start your lift, chances are its too cold in the weight room, or you're not warmed up enough.
A lot of variations of this can be done. Like jump rope and jog on the basket ball court. Or skip and job and move your arms around. There are tons of different ways to get your blood flowing. But after we do this, there is the icing on the cake, which every fat kid wants. And if you're lifting heavy you certainly a fat kid at some point, is making sure your Central nervous system is fully awake. We need to maximize the communication between our brains and our muscles. Because all movement starts at the brain that needs to be awake. And we do this by "stimulating" our CNS. A few that I really like to do is a full out sprint at the end of my treadmill scheme for 15 seconds. If space is limited, standing vertical jumps in repetition are great. If there is some gym access, standing broad jumps a few 3x3 or something like that is good. Essentially a movement that will spark your brain to wake up, because benching 135 5 times before we throw on 225 really isnt going to get your brain ready to accommodate such a weight.
I see some guys gettin in there, stretching their arms out, moving them around with a 5lb plate and jumping into thier monday chest and tri routine, cuase to them its just another day in the gym.
When I'm racking on 45lb plate's onto the bar in the AM I'm thinking about being another fuckin day at the zoo, so I gear up and get the fuck ready to go.
In summary, it is important to properly warm up so we get the most out of our workouts. For some out there it may change the way you lift completely, becuase you never knew you had that kind of strength in you, all because you weren't allow your CNS to wake up, or not enough blood flow to your pecs to support that measly 185. But now you can! Just warm the fuck UP!
-GFH