My 5 Minute Go To Warm Up Workout

It's tempting to skip your warmup.

I don't know about you, but I always feel rushed. And skipping a warmup to get right into a workout feels like we're making up time. I don't get it myself... but I'm guilty of doing it too.

Warm ups are important.

This is our first warmup workout in the 5 Minute Fit Finisher series.

And while this is technically a warm up workout... it can be used as a quick active recovery workout or a movement workout when you get home from work or wake up in the morning.

Go To 5 Minute Workout Warm Up

10 forward leg kicks per leg
10 lateral leg kicks per leg
40 seconds cat and cow at your own pace
30 seconds should rolls each direction
10 bodyweight deadlifts
6 inchworms to opener

Let's breakdown the exercises.

1. Leg Kicks Forward and Lateral

Kindal kicking back into hip extension during her forward kicks during the warm up.

Kindal kicking forward and high during the front kicks during her warm up.

Kindal kicking inward during lateral kicks during her warm up.

Kindal kicking high during the outside kick of lateral kicks during a good warm up workout.

During both kicks, let your foot feel heavy. You want to feel as if you're foot is pulling on your hip joint from the centrifical force.

When you're kicking forward... let your knee bend if it has to. You don't need to keep your leg straight.

When you're kicking backward... really focus on getting your hip back into extension.

During the lateral kicks... let your foot feel heavy so it's pulling on your hip joint.

Finally, make these kicks flow from one to the next smoothly. No jerky or forceful kicks. This is about getting your hips warmed up... not about producing power.

Learn more about hip mobility exercises that focus on movement and not stretching.

2. Cat and Cows

Kindal going into cow opening her chest and putting her spine into extension.

Kindal going into a deep cat and trying to decompress her spine for a good warm up.

I love cat and cows.

They're great for:

Warming up your spine.
Stretching your spinal errector muscles and traps (lats if you get some side bending in too).
Opening your chest muscles and warming up your shoulders.

Go at your own pace for the 40 seconds. Try to feel the stretch before you switch directions. Keep in mind, this is a dynamic move... but feel free to really stretch it out if you feel like you should.

Notice in the video how I will side bend during cat. This helps to hit your lats, a muscle that get's really tight from prolonged sitting.

3. Shoulder Rolls

Kindal doing shoulder rolls and trying to move her joint as much as possible to warm them up.

Kindal doing shoulder rolls and getting her chest to open up and stretch.

This is such a simple mobility exercise. And yet when was the last time you did shoulder rolls like these... grade school?

I sit a lot during the day so anything to get my shoulders moving and loose is a focus of mine.

The key is to not go too fast and focus on making a big of circles as you can. Pay attention to how your shoulders feel...

Is one direction tougher than the other?
Do your shoulders crack or snap when you go in one direction?
Is one direction really easy and smooth?

A lot of women have really tight pec muscles from working on a computer... holding a phone... holding kids... just living life. Simple exercises to do if you sit all day , like this will make a big difference in how your body feels.

These simple shoulder rolls are a great way to open up your chest muscles and work on not slouching your shoulders forward. They always feel like a nice shoulder rejuvenation.

4. Bodyweight Deadlifts

Kindal standing straight up for the bodyweight deadlift.

Kindal going into the deadlift position to stretch the back and bring blood to her hamstrings.

These are another favorite or mine. I will do bodyweight deadlifts throughout the day to keep my back loose and stretch my hamstrings.

When you're doing these... work on keeping your spine as straight as you can for as long as you can. At the bottom when you're close to touching your toes... you can round your spine for a deeper stretch.

Remember to keep this movement going. It's dynamic so you're going up and down with a smooth tempo.

Finally, you can and should keep a slight bend in your knees. This is not about getting a deep stretch... it's about getting the blood flowing into your muscles.

Don't be surprised if you're back cracks a few times when you do these.

5. Inchworm to Opener

Kindal doing a bodyweight deadlift to the ground so she can get her hands on the ground to walk them out.

Kindal walking out to the top of an inchworm pushup plank and still feeling a nice dynamic stretch in her hamstrings.

Kindal in a great top of pushup plank and trying to keep her core pulled in a relatively tight.

Kindal stepping all the way up and keeping her back leg straight while squeezing her butt.

Kindal opening up her chest and getting a great twist of the spine plus working on shoulder stability.

This is one of the best total body warmup exercises. Let's break down how to do this one... you may have not done something like this before.

Step 1

Stand straight up and extend up. Stand a little taller.

Step 2

Do a bodyweight deadlift down to the ground. Once you get close to your feet, let your spine round and knees bend so you can get your palms on the ground.

Step 3

Walk your hands out until your in a top of pushup plank. Your legs can be bent... but don't bend them so much that you're balled up as you walk out. You want to feel a nice hamstring stretch.

Step 4

Step one of your feet all the way up so it lands to the outside of your hand.

Try to straighten your back leg and squeeze that butt cheek. Get your hip in some extension. This is such a great feeling.

Step 5

Lift the hand that's just to the inside of your foot and reach it to the sky as you twist and open your chest.

You're getting a nice spine twist... extending through your shoulder and opening your chest too. It's a great position.

Step 6

Return to the ground. Step your foot back and walk your hands back in.

You can immediately walk back out or if you want you can come all the way up and extend your arms to the sky. It's your call.

I love this warm up exercise. I always feel ready to kick butt after it.

My Go To 5 Minute Workout Warn Up - Use It!

If you're like most women, you probably skip or skimp on your warm up.

Don't. Use this 5 minute workout and get a good warmup done. The quality of your workout will drastically improve with a good warmup. It sounds kind of stupid to way that... but it's true. A good warmup immediately gets the blood flowing so you can go hard from the get go.

Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel . Every Monday of this year, I will be releasing a 5 Minute Fit Finisher workout.

Some of these workouts will be full blown workouts and others will be warm ups and cool downs.

Go follow me on my social accounts below. And if you want to workout with me LIVE over the Internet, go learn about Fit Women's Weekly LIVE .

You can try FWW LIVE FREE for 14 days and see what it's like having me as your online personal trainer.

Now go use this warm up and let me know how it works for you.