We once had an intern who argued that warm-ups were a waste of time and people shouldn’t bother with them. She was 21 at the time. And maybe, for her and others her age, she wasn’t entirely wrong.

But for those of us who were born into a world of landline telephones and two TV channels? It’s a different story.

As we age, our joints need more love, attention, and care. Warm-ups aren’t just some checkbox we tick off because we’re “supposed to.” They’re essential.

Here are 5 reasons why we treat warm-ups with the respect they deserve:

1️⃣ Check In

Before we push, we listen. A warm-up is time to connect with your body:

How are your joints feeling today?
How’s your nervous system?
Is there a tightness in your hip that’s not usually there? A twinge in your shoulder?

These signals tell you what kind of day it’s going to be. Maybe it’s a “go hard” day. Maybe it’s a “move slow and stay sharp” day. The warm-up gives you that intel.

2️⃣ Mobilize

We believe in training through full ranges of motion—not just for strength, but for joint health and flexibility.

Warm-ups are a chance to explore those ranges, opening up the hips, ankles, shoulders, and spine so we can own the patterns we’re about to load.

3️⃣ Activate

Happy joints aren’t just flexible—they’re stable. And that stability comes from small, often-overlooked muscles that support the structure.

Your warm-up is a chance to turn them on before the bigger lifts take over. It’s a way of telling your nervous system, “Hey, don’t forget these guys.”

Where attention goes, blood flows. 😉

4️⃣ Explore and Learn

At Uptown Movement, warm-ups are a playground for movement skills:

Balance
Coordination
Rhythm

These often get left behind in traditional gym programs. But if you want a lifelong practice, you’ve got to keep learning. The warm-up is a chance to expand your movement vocabulary—efficiently, in the time you have.

5️⃣ Inject Variety

A good program needs repetition to build strength—but too much of the same gets stale.

Warm-ups are where we add novelty to keep things engaging. Crawls, rolls, hangs, hops—these patterns bring us back to the kind of movement we did as kids.

It keeps you curious, keeps you playful, keeps you moving.

Bonus Tip:

Yeah, we’re getting old. That 21-year-old wasn’t wrong—in a perfect world, we’d be so active all day that we wouldn’t need to warm up. But most of us aren’t chasing deer or chopping wood from sunup to sundown.

We’ve got decades between the day we were born and the workout we’re about to do. So, warm up:

Get the blood flowing
Check in
Mobilize
Activate
Learn something
Get weird with it

Stay moving. Love your warm-ups.

5 Reasons You Need To Warm Up