Commonly known to most as a “warm up,” the extra five to ten minutes of physical activity before a workout is essential to ensure you maintain endurance and avoid soreness or injury. Most exercise enthusiasts know how important a warm-up can be and the positive effect a few extra minutes can have on the quality of your workout and your health.
When you start any workout, your heart, muscles, and metabolic energy pathways are stimulated to support physical activity. To compensate for the contraction of the muscles, the heart is forced to beat faster to increase blood flow and oxygen. In effect, you start to breathe faster and the extra blood is sent to your muscles so they can work better. Because both the temperature of the blood and the rate at which oxygen is released have increased, the muscles heat up. As a result, fatty acids can automatically burn calories to produce energy so you can train harder.
Below I have listed several ways that warming up can benefit your workout.
1) Your joints move more efficiently.
2) Because you are improving the flexibility of your muscles, you are less likely to injure yourself.
3) Muscle contractions will be faster and more powerful.
4) It will prevent lactic acid from building up in your bloodstream, allowing you to exercise for longer periods of time.
5) Oxygen will be transported faster to the muscle groups you are working because you have already increased your metabolic rate.
6) You will be ready for more intense training because your interest and focus on fitness has been stimulated.
7) Your body temperature will rise, helping you successfully burn more calories.
8) Neural message pathways to your muscles will speed up, giving you more control over your muscles and a better overall workout.
When it comes to selecting which warm-up exercises to do, take a look at what you’ll be doing during a workout. It’s as easy as doing that activity at a lower intensity. For example, if your main workout will be running on a treadmill, start by walking and jogging slowly. A proper warm-up consists of an aerobic activity that targets the muscle groups you’ll be using during the main exercise, as well as various stretches.
There is no way to identify any type of target intensity for a warm-up. The goal is not to get tired, but still get warm enough and sweat. Base the length of your warm-up on your personal fitness level, as well as what you’ll be doing during your main exercise.
Once you have completed an aerobic warm-up, it is essential that you stretch. Focus on the muscle groups that you will use during your main physical activity. Since your muscles are already warm from the aerobic warm-up, your muscles should be more flexible and the stretch will be more powerful.
By simply adding an extra five or ten minutes to the beginning of your workout, you ensure that your body responds better to exercise. As a result, you’ll find that you get better results and feel less tired during physical activity, making the overall experience that much more enjoyable.
