Everyday countless people embark on a journey of wellness, prevention and exercise only to hit a stumbling block that deters their progress, thanks to injury. You can avoid that process by incorporating a few minutes of warm ups and stretches into your exercise routine, saving yourself from injury and get better workout results too.
What is A Warm Up?
Warming up is getting your body ready for exercise or any other vigorous physical activity. More specifically warming up involves low-impact exercises to prepare your body for the more strenuous work to be performed during your workout routine.
Why Warm Up Before Exercise?
You warm up before you exercise because warming up before exercise improves blood circulation to your muscles and improves your muscle elasticity. Your muscles and tendons are more likely to become injured when you are cold and warm up exercises can help reduce the chances of injury.
Example Warm Up Exercises
- Jogging in place
- Jumping jacks
- Jumping rope
- Light Cycling
- Brisk Walking
Stretching and Warming Up Go Hand in Hand
Following your warm up should bea few light stretching exercises focused on the muscles, joints and tendons you plan to exercise. The warm up exercises you perform prior to stretching not only increase your heart rate and circulation but also relax your body and allow you to stretch effectively.
Additional Benefits of Stretching and Warming Up
Warming up and stretching before exercise significantly improves your performance and workout results. However, warming up also reduces muscle fatigue, gives you better muscle control and allows your body to cope with more strenuous activity. Lastly, warm ups get you mentally prepared.
Hopefully, I have convinced you that warm ups and stretches add valuable results to your workout, but are easy implement and can save you from injury. Injury can be the difference from reaching your fitness goals in six months, to never reaching them at all. By incorporating a proper stretch and warm up routine you can avoid injury and reach your goals without delay.
