Everyone has been suggesting that you should be doing a warm up before exercise, and now your body has started hinting at it too… A warm up is an essential part of taking part in exercise – afterall, the professionals warm up, so why not you?
It helps you to undo the tension from your day to day activities and prepares your body for what you are about to put it through, whatever that may be. There are no strict rules of how to warm up but a good one should cover all of these key areas:
Increase your core temperature and get the blood circulating well
Getting moving and getting the blood pumping before starting exercise will trigger the body to direct your circulation towards your muscles, ensuring they get a good supply of oxygen.
Take your body through its full required range of movement
You need to have got in to all the positions that you may end up in when doing your exercise. This will ensure there is no stiffness or restrictions in your joints or muscles from the start. Going into exercise without testing out your range of movement could lead to you feeling uncomfortable during exercise or worse, causing an injury. If you find an area of tension / restriction when performing these movements it is important to address this before starting exercise. This can be done with some dynamic stretches or getting on the foam roller.
You should have hit maximum intensity of your intended session in your warm up
A warm up should not just be about moving about before exercise, if you are required to sprint during your exercise you should have hit a full sprint in your warm up to ensure you are up to it. This stops any nasty surprises once you’ve got started.
Warming up isn’t just about casually moving about a bit. It should be designed to specifically prepare your body for what it is about to do. A warm up before a Pilates class would be very different to a warm up before a 5-a-side match. Planning your warm up in advance can maximise your chances of ticking all these boxes and making sure you are fully ready to exercise.
