Warming up before exercise

WARMING UP

Everyone has their own idea about warming up so I have avoided telling you how to.  Instead I have answered the following questions in detail giving you the information to ensure your personal warm up is effective.


Most common questions:

1.   What is a warm up?

2.   How long should I warm up for?

3.   What's best, a specific or general warm up and what's the difference?

4.   What's the difference between an internal and external warm up and which is better?


1.   WHAT IS A WARM UP?

A warm up allows the body to prepare itself for an activity or movement that you may perform, without putting it into a high state of stress. It ensures that your muscles can be stretched effectively; it prepares your joints by producing fluid to help absorb shock and increases blood flow to the organs and muscles allowing them to work at a higher rate.

Add these factors together and you have a body that is more capable of operating injury free during and after an activity.


2.    HOW LONG SHOULD I WARM UP FOR?

This depends on the activity you want to do. For example, in the home gym or in a studio, you may spend anything from 30minutes to 1hour working out so it may be preferable to limit your warm up to 4-5 minutes so as not to tire your body.  This ensures you have enough energy to work out at a higher intensity.

If however you were going for a run (long or short), the decision would be when you feel that you can stretch easier as opposed to when you started.

There are also some easy indications you can look for like a higher heart rate, a slight sweat or just feeling warmer. I would suggest anything between 5-10 minutes of light jogging or brisk walking.

Remember trust yourself you know your body better than anybody else.  If you feel you haven’t warmed up adequately then you probably haven’t.


3.    WHAT'S BEST, A SPECIFIC WARM UP OR A GENERAL WARM UP AND WHATS THE DIFERENCE?

A specific warm up is using the movement you are about to perform at lesser intensity.  An example of this is if you were to perform a bench press (lying on your back pushing a bar up with two hands) you could warm up by performing a push up on your knees or toes, warming up the same muscles that are used in both movements.

A general warm up is using a bike, treadmill, rowing machine or a walk before a swim, before performing any specific or non specific movement.

Research shows there is no real difference in effectiveness between the two, generally if you honestly feel warmed up you are.


4.    WHAT ARE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WARM UPS AND WHICH    IS BEST?

An internal warm up is when you use an activity or movement to warm up your body. For example; a walk before you run.  An external warm-up is using heat from the outside. For example, having a hot shower, a massage, a sauna or heat lamp.

Both warm ups increase blood flow to the muscles and skin? However an internal warm up is preferable for strenuous activity as it increases your heart rate delivering oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and organs, also providing protection to your joints.

Here are some physiological and psychological benefits of a warm up.

Physiological

1      Gradual increase of blood flow and heart rate.

2      Increased oxygen to the muscles.

3      Helps to avoid the build up of lactic acid.

4      Increases muscle elasticity, which in turn increases the range of movement decreasing injury.

5      Helps coordination.

Psychological

1      Prepares you mentally for what you are about to do.

2      Psyches you up, which increases the adrenalin production to keep you alert and helps to speed up your reaction times, reducing the chance of injury.

Warming up is an essential part of exercise, if in doubt contact a fitness professional.