Importance of pre exercise Warm Up

Warm up-the most underrated part of Sports or training is something which has a huge role in the training and often skipped by most of the individuals but doing that can increase your chance of injuries.

Putting a few minutes prior to your training in warming up your muscles can help you perform optimally, here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t skip your warm up and why you should take your warm up as seriously as your workout.

What’s a warm up?

The term warm-up in sport is defined as a period of preparatory phase which includes few exercises to enhance subsequent competition or training performance.

Warm-up before starting physical activities is recommended by health professionals and coaches for both performance enhancement and injury prevention.

How does a warm up routine looks like ?

The traditional warm-up routine typically includes the following three things.

1. A short period of low-intensity aerobic exercise such as riding a bicycle or simply jogging on a treadmill.

2. Which is then Followed by a dynamic stretching routine and

3. Lastly a Sports specific exercise or sports specific or the Movement specific warm-up i.e. slower versions of the movements you’ll be doing during your workout, for example you could be performing a barbell bench press at lower resistance (lower weight) or performing one or two set of push ups prior to your actual workout to get the muscle and the body prepared for the heavy Movement performed in the actual workout.

Why you should warm up before your workout ?

● To increase muscle and tendon flexibility in other words loosen up the tight muscles and tendons,

● To stimulate blood flow to the periphery,

● To increase muscle temperature or core temperature.

● To enhance free, coordinated movement,

● To facilitate prevention of any cramps or injury in the muscle.

● To Improve performance, studies show that warmed up muscles can help you work out more effectively.

What is dynamic Stretching (DS) ?

DS includes the performance of a movement in a controlled manner within the ROM of the active joint(s).

DS is considered preferable to static stretching in the preparation for physical activity i.e. in the pre-exercise routine.

Benefits of Dynamic Stretching

DS activities can elevate or raise core temperature, resulting in an increased nerve conduction velocity, muscle compliance, as well as enzymatic cycling, which accelerates the energy production.

What is Static Stretching ?

SS includes lengthening or stretching a muscle until either a stretch sensation or the point where discomfort is caused is reached and then holding the muscle in a lengthened position for a suggested period of time.

Static stretching is most effective at the end of your workout i.e. it’s a part of a cool down routine usually performed post workout.

Benefit of Static Stretching

SS is commonly used with the specific aims of increasing joint range of motion (ROM) and reducing injury risk.

How long should a warm up be?

A warm up routine doesn’t have to be an hour long routine like your actual workout it can be as short as 5 to 10 minutes but it should be given the same importance as your actual workout.If intensity of your workout is going to b higher you will need to warm up little longer which can go up to 15-20 minutes.