8 Functional Exercises to Prepare You For a Rock Show
Tomorrow marks the last weekend of the final Vans Warped Tour shows. As a kid, Warped Tour was one of the only things I looked forward to year round, ever since I started going back in ‘09. I made my childhood dreams come true when I started working for Warped Tour in 2017, and now here I am closing it out with them for this final show.
I’m flying in to Mountain View, California today and ready to rock harder than ever with all of you! Let me know if you’re going to be there!
Not fitness-related, but for fun, here’s my boss and co-worker teaching me how to shot gun my first beer during our after-show BBQ’s on tour in 2017.
In honor of the final Vans Warped Tour show, I created a concert-ready fitness guide which will allow you to have the best experience possible not only for Warped Tour, but for any pop punk, emo, or metal shows you have coming up!
This guide isn’t just to get you fit and sexy for your favorite long-haired band boy (cough cough), but these movements will also help you when it comes to moshing hard, crowd surfing safely, and the endurance to go all day without getting tired and needing to watch Neck Deep all the way from the back of the crowd while sitting in the dirt because you’re too tired by 5pm to stand at the barricades.
Implement these into your training regimen and I guarantee you will not only look strong, feel strong, but you will also have the most kick ass concert experience after doing so. I would recommend following a consistent plan for minimum of 8 weeks prior to the show for the best results.
8 exercises to Prepare You for Vans Warped Tour (or ANY Pop Punk / Emo / Metal Concert)
JUMP AROUND!
The most basic movement required for a concert is the jump or bounce. The jump rope prepares your calves (for jumping), shoulders (to throw those rock hands up), and overall stamina to be able to rock for the full day. Start with a 20 minute jump rope routine 3x/ week to build your endurance for the day! You can start with a steady pace for the first few weeks and then slowly move into varying speed intervals as you progress for even better results.
PUT ‘EM ON YOUR SHOULDERS
The high bar back squat will build your strength so you’re able to effectively squat down to pick up your friends, hold them there for a set, and safely lower them back down without hurting yourself, them, or the people around you. Most people struggle to even lift their friends up on their shoulders, but not you after incorporating this into your program! Try high bar back squats 2-3x/ week for 4x8 at a challenging weight. As you progress, make sure to continue increasing the weight!
SURF THE CROWD
If you want to crowd surf safely, you’ll need to be able to balance on uneven surfaces. The banana hold is a back extension variation which prepares you to remain balanced while in proprioceptively challenging environments (AKA while being tossed and turned in the hands of other people). Try this movement 4x/ week for 4x60 seconds!
LET’S MOSH!
If you don’t want to leave the mosh pit early from not being able to keep up with all the younger and cooler kids, get prepared to go your hardest in the pit by incorporating 60 minute kick boxing classes 2-3x/ week. Just please try not to break anyone’s face in the pit once you get there!
EVERYBODY, LET’S SKANK!
Incase you’re not familiar, skanking is a dance form that you’ll often see with our ska bands at the show! For this one, you can superset these two exercises to kill it at Warped when you watch Less Than Jake! Add this one to your regimen 3x/week: 3x15 high knees (each side) superset with 15 static skips (each side).
DON’T DROP THE CROWD SURFERS
Regardless of whether you plan to crowd surf or not, you won’t be able to drop everyone else who does! Its going to get wild, especially if you’re near the barricades. You need to be prepared for your own safety and enjoyment of the show to hold up everyone (or otherwise drop them on your head). For this, do 4x10 standing barbell overhead presses 2x/ week.
TAKING CARE OF ‘EM IN THE PIT
Mosh pits can be dangerous as we all know, but as scary as it may seem, it’s all love in there. When someone gets knocked down, everyone rushes to help each other up. Whether you’re watching from the side or in the pit, be prepared to help if needed. Try 3x12 single arm dumbbell rows (each side) for 2x/week.
GET IN THE CIRCLE
If you don’t want to mosh, you can still jump and run around in the circle pit. Oftentimes bands will call out for the crowd to start, “the largest damn circle pit you will see at this show!” and its up to you to help make that possible! Usually when this happens, you have to do nothing here but run and flail your arms in the air. The hardest part is keeping up with the speed of the crowd. We’ll get you ready for this by doing 30 minutes of HIIT (sprint intervals) 3x/ week. Try 30 seconds of sprints with 60 seconds of light jogging or walking and repeat until the time is up.
If you incorporate these exercises into your training program, you will be the most pop punk, emo, metal person at Vans Warped Tour and all other future shows.
