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As a teacher, going to class yourself isn’t always an option. If you’re devoting your full attention to students during class, it’s important to make time to warm yourself up beforehand. No warm-up fits all bodies, so you have to do what works for you, getting your muscles limber and your blood flowing. The most important thing is that you do it. (And the warm-up with students is not enough.)
Here, Amy Chavasse, who teaches at the University of Michigan, shares her personal warm-up practices. Use it to inspire your own routine.
“The first thing I do when I get up is go for an hour-long dog walk. I think about my day ahead and what I’ve been doing in my classes. It gets me intellectually and physically prepared for the day.
I would love to have 45 minutes to warm up before class, but I don’t always get it. If I can get into the studio, I’ll improvise for a bit, going through different ranges of motion. I usually do a few sun salutations, some warrior poses and side angle bends to feel spaciousness inside and resistance to the floor. Sometimes I’ll use a foam roller to actively roll out my quads.
If I’m not feeling particularly creative, I’ll use the elliptical machine in our performance lab. It’s a remarkably good way to get my blood flowing for half an hour.”
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Photo by Carlos Funn, courtesy of Chavasse