Next time you exercise, prioritise warming up as part of your routine.
Warming up often flies over many people’s heads when it comes to physical activity, whether it be walking, running, strength training, cycling or swimming. Warming up can easily be seen as a waste of precious time, however, including it into your exercises can significantly improve your results.
By warming up we increase the body’s core and muscle temperature. This allows for the muscles to produce more energy which increases reflexes and ensures that they take less time to contract.
A warmup needs to be specific to the type of exercises you will be doing
Ultimately, a warmup involves full body movements. However, if you will be doing a predominantly leg focused exercise, then it is beneficial to do more movements specific to the muscle groups you will be using, without completely neglecting your upper body.
Warming up can help you reach your desired results.
By warming up, you can significantly reduce the risk of injuring yourself and, as a result, you can progress in your training in accordance with your goals.
Static stretching vs dynamic warmups – what is the difference?
When you hold a muscle in a stretched position for a certain period, you are doing a static stretch. Static stretches lengthen the muscle to the end of the available range. Over time this can increase your flexibility in the muscle and the mobility in the joints.
A Dynamic warmup includes exercises which are more active and mimic the activity you are about to do. Dynamic warming up can increase power, explosiveness, and overall performance.
Doing both static stretches and dynamic warm-ups is important.
