Do you take the time to warm-up properly before starting your workouts? Surprisingly, even when I ask friends of mine who exercise often if they warm-up beforehand, they mention that they sometimes forget or that they should do it more often. When I workout with P90X, there is always a warm-up before the actual workout begins. I'm certain if I just skipped it and started exercising, I'd feel lousy and increase my risk of injury.
There are several reasons why warming-up is so essential before you begin exercising:
- Decreased muscle stiffness
- Less risk of injury
- Decreased risk of overstretching muscles
- Warmed muscles increase speed and strength
- Improved muscle elasticity reducing risks of strains
- Improved range of motion
- Mental preparation which gets you focused on your workout
It's a good idea to warm-up from head to toe. Good warm-up routines you can try include:
- Calisthenics
- Dynamic stretching
- Sports related warm-up (runners jog or do sprints)
I've also read that stretching cold muscles could lead to injury. I think whether you stretch before or after exercise is a preference. I rather be warmed up before doing static stretching. When I'm not doing P90X and want to warm-up, I'll usually do some jumping jacks, squats, and push-ups. What are some warm-up routines that you do?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Warming up is very important for sports specific training since, as mentioned, it improves your range of motion and reduces muscle stiffness. Your body will then be in a much better condition to move as it should and not deter your skill improvements.
The best type of warm up is that which is closest to the activity about to be performed, but at a much lower intensity. So, for example, if you would want to lift weights, you should also lift weights to warm up, but using much lower weights than you normally would.
I always spend 5-10 minutes warming up my body with some cardio and some light weight lifting. Cardio consists of a jog, jump roping or some machine work! Warm ups are essential to increase the blood flow to the working muscle which results in decreased muscle stiffness, less risk of injury and improved performance.
Yes warming up is very important but most of us neglect to do it.
Warming up is definitely important before a workout. Before I perform any cardio, I generally start with a simple walk around the block. That’s generally enough to get my legs ready for HIIT.
I usually do warm ups based on what my workout consists of that particular day.
Legs, I will do 5 minutes on an upright bike.
Upper body, I will do 5 minutes on the elliptical.
Good for lubricating joints and getting good blood flow.
it is aboslutely necessary to do n those who dont are harming their body
agree to that, we even need warm ups before playing a guitar ! it helps to prevent stiffness to both hands and also cramp that often happen to your left hand when playing some tricky tunes.
So warm ups are definitely necessary for such activities like workouts, especially for tough workouts.
Great article! A lot of people are unaware of the importance of warming up and cooling down. The fact is that with a proper warm up you can actually increase your body’s ability to exercise more effectively and of course drastically lower your chances of injury. Trying to force your body from one state to another is risky.
Great advice, keep it coming!
- Jack Bronson
I think warming up is absolutely necessary to to avoid injury and to get the most out of your workouts. The only thing I would say is be careful when stretching for a warm-up because a lot of people injur themselves by stretching when they are “cold”. I believe it’s better to take a short jog or to do some jumping jacks before you start to warm up.