Most people have heard that they should warm up before
working out but they do not warm up because they do not know
why they should warm up. I often see guys just walk into the gym and head for
the weights without stretching or warming up using a light workout that gets the
blood flowing.
Warming up basically makes you perform better hence you will
get more out of your lifts and you will perform better if you are an athlete.
Warming up also helps to prevent unnecessary injuries which you would otherwise
get if you did not warm up. I will go into more details about the two points I
just mentioned above.
get more out of your lifts and you will perform better if you are an athlete.
Warming up also helps to prevent unnecessary injuries which you would otherwise
get if you did not warm up. I will go into more details about the two points I
just mentioned above.
HOW DOES WARMING UP ENHANCE YOUR LIFTING AND ATHLETIC
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
As the term warming up literally states that is what you are
doing, you are engaging in a short activity before you begin you workout to
warm your muscles. You do this by increasing your heart rate which then pumps
more blood into your body, increased blood flow leads to increased body
temperature. The increased blood flow means that there is more oxygen available
for use by your body, in this case your muscles; this in turn leads to a boost
in lifts and athletic performance.
doing, you are engaging in a short activity before you begin you workout to
warm your muscles. You do this by increasing your heart rate which then pumps
more blood into your body, increased blood flow leads to increased body
temperature. The increased blood flow means that there is more oxygen available
for use by your body, in this case your muscles; this in turn leads to a boost
in lifts and athletic performance.
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| image by arztsamui |
AVOIDING SILLY INJURIES
If you could prevent a muscle tear or any other kind of
muscle injury that you got while working out, or while doing your favourite
sport you would right? It turns out that something as simple as stretching and
warming up can help prevent that injury that keeps you on the sidelines for
months or that injury that prevents you from doing certain exercises because
you damaged that muscle while working out.
muscle injury that you got while working out, or while doing your favourite
sport you would right? It turns out that something as simple as stretching and
warming up can help prevent that injury that keeps you on the sidelines for
months or that injury that prevents you from doing certain exercises because
you damaged that muscle while working out.
Most acute muscle tears happen when you suddenly put force
or cause tension to a muscle that is not ready (It’s like expecting to go from
0-90 mph without changing gears, this is not a perfect example but you get the
point). Cold muscles are like new Prestik (a white reusable putty-like adhesive
used to stick charts on walls) it is stiff and rigid at first and it no good
for sticking charts but once you stretch it for a couple minutes and increase its internal kinetic energy (
increase temperature) it becomes flexible and it stick to the wall and chart
paper. So just like the Prestik you need to stretch and warm up your cold rigid
muscles in so doing help them become more flexible so that they can handle more
stress without tearing.
or cause tension to a muscle that is not ready (It’s like expecting to go from
0-90 mph without changing gears, this is not a perfect example but you get the
point). Cold muscles are like new Prestik (a white reusable putty-like adhesive
used to stick charts on walls) it is stiff and rigid at first and it no good
for sticking charts but once you stretch it for a couple minutes and increase its internal kinetic energy (
increase temperature) it becomes flexible and it stick to the wall and chart
paper. So just like the Prestik you need to stretch and warm up your cold rigid
muscles in so doing help them become more flexible so that they can handle more
stress without tearing.
TIME SPENT WARMING UP IS TIME WELL SPENT
It does not take too long to get warmed up, you can start by
mimicking the movement you would make when you are using weights without the
weights first so that you make the muscle ready for the type of movement that
you are about to do, you can add light warm up weights before your actual
workout. These are just a few examples of what you could do, there is a whole
bunch of other warm up techniques you could learn about, the basic idea is to
spend a few minutes before you actual workout visualising what you are about to
do, warming you muscle and letting them get used to the type of motion they
will be in during the workout so that there is no sudden unexpected forces from
the muscles point of view. It only take 10 minutes to warm ups whereas recovery
from injury can take anything from a few weeks to a couple of months just
because you act a fool.
mimicking the movement you would make when you are using weights without the
weights first so that you make the muscle ready for the type of movement that
you are about to do, you can add light warm up weights before your actual
workout. These are just a few examples of what you could do, there is a whole
bunch of other warm up techniques you could learn about, the basic idea is to
spend a few minutes before you actual workout visualising what you are about to
do, warming you muscle and letting them get used to the type of motion they
will be in during the workout so that there is no sudden unexpected forces from
the muscles point of view. It only take 10 minutes to warm ups whereas recovery
from injury can take anything from a few weeks to a couple of months just
because you act a fool.
