Back when I first started down the physical fitness road that eventually led me to opening CrossFit NZ, I was living in Canada, working as a hardwood floor layer from 7am-7pm. I also had a 30min cycle commute to start off the day (in the snow, uphill, both ways of course…. :), so it meant my only chance to get to the gym was early…..

I'm talking, Dawn Demons early……

Who has two thumbs and loves getting up at crazy o’clock? The Dawn Demons!

It opened at 530am, but I needed to leave for work soon after, leaving me little time for a warm up at the gym.

So I would get up half an hour earlier, at 5am, and sneak out to the lounge in the dark to run through a basic mobility circuit, then I’d run the 10mins to the gym, thus hitting the workout already fired up and ready to rock!

It looked a bit like this.

1. Wrist circles - 10 each direction
2. Elbow circles – 10 each direction
3. Arm swings – 10 each direction
4. Bow & bend (Kang Squat) – 10
5. Leg Swings – 10 each leg, forward and sideways
6. Perfect Stretch – 10 each leg
7. Scorpion – 10 each side
8. Russian Baby Makers - 30 sec hold
9. Broomstick shoulder rolls – 10
10. Overhead squats – 10
11. Sots Press – 10

We’ve talked before about about how just lying on a foam roller is better served at putting you to sleep, rather than prepping you to train, you need to move around! Especially in this chilly winter weather.

You’ve learned plenty of pre-workout warmup ideas (not least of which are simply 5mins on the bike and Crossover Symmetry), BUT, if you want to mix it up some days and do something else, be our guest! By now you hopefully know our flow routines or at least parts of them – lunge, hip rotation and thoracic. There’s also plenty of other drills you can do, animal crawl movements, empty barbell complexes and more.

Give the above a try, and add any of your favourites – as long as they are dynamic, full range of motion, and make you feel ready to kick butt, they are perfect for your warmup.

A HUGE bonus of this type of movement is that it all counts as extra practice towards a bigger squat, a smoother clean, and more pullups.

But you need to make this mobility work mandatory, get it done, EVERY day if you can, but particularly before training.

Fun fact for those who train in the evening, did you know that a morning mobility routine still has carryover to your PM workout!!!