Are you a person that regularly goes to the gym? Or perhaps you’re just someone looking to start his fitness journey just now? Either way, learning to properly warm up before your workout sessions are the most useful and valuable thing that you can learn. This applies not only to gym related fitness sessions. All sports require you to be properly warmed up before you start so that the chance of getting injured is greatly reduced. A good warm-up will have both a psychological and physical impact on your workout. Here’s why you need to pay attention to this before you start your session.
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The benefits of proper warm-up
ACSM or The American College of Sports Medicine advises everyone to warm up for at least 5 to 10 minutes before doing any physical activity. It is scientifically confirmed that warmed up trainees perform better than those who are not. Warming up will prepare your lungs, heart and all muscles for the upcoming stress from your workout. Here’s what exactly happens to your body while performing a warm-up.
The temperature of your muscles increases. Warmed up muscles can contract better and relax more quickly. This greatly reduces the risk of overstretching a muscle or completely tearing it. Also, your body temperature will increase due to the better blood flow and this will result in having better speed and strength.
The blood temperature rises as well as it travels and flows into the muscles. As the blood temperature goes up, the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin will become weaker. Therefore, oxygen will be more available for the working muscles. This will result in having an increased endurance for your workout session.
source: verywellfit.com
The chances of overheating will be greatly reduced due to the activated heat-dissipation mechanism of your body because of your warm-up. This is especially important if you are doing a very demanding aerobic activity such as running for a longer period of time.
Almost all CrossFit trainers will explain the importance of properly warming up. That’s why CrossFit is a great choice for people that are just starting their fitness journeys. If you’re looking to find out more, CrossFitSurvival is an awesome source of information. Also, many CrossFit trainers will tell you to keep your workouts short and effective, which is always the right thing to do. If your warm-up routine is very long and demanding, your actual workout session will be much harder since you’re going to waste your energy on the warm-up. Five to ten minutes is more than enough to get you prepared both mentally and physically for the next two hours of training.
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Warming up should include movements that are similar to those you’re going to perform during your workout session. For example, if you’re training legs, you should focus on warming them up. Consider doing some body weight squats or even spending a few minutes on a stationary bike. This combined with the basic stretches will ensure that you are fully prepared for the harder exercises. Also, the risk of injury will be minimal.
