The reason people go to a personal training facility is, not only to get guaranteed results, but also to make sure they are doing everything correctly and safely! If one does not understand the correct way to do things, one can get hurt.
Being safe doesn’t always mean how you work out. It also means what you do before and after the workout. Warming up prior to exercise is extremely important to avoid injury.
What happens during a warm up?
Most warms-ups consist of low-impact cardio for five to ten minutes (or possibly longer) so that you are not working with cold muscles. People often use the analogy of a rubber band. If you have a cold rubber band, and you try to stretch it, it might snap and break. A warm rubber band will stretch farther without breaking. Your muscles really should be warm before executing any strength exercises, so that they don’t “snap.”
The warm-up essentially will gently prepare your muscles for the exercises you will follow with during your workout, by gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation. This loosens joints and increases blood flow to the muscles.
The purpose of a warm up
Clearly, a warm-up is one of your best defenses against injury, and its main purpose. It is also recommended to do static stretches during the actual workout to keep the muscles warm and further prevent injury.
Having an injury occur during your workout routine is never a pleasant experience and one that you want to avoid, but there are also other benefits to warming up before your workout. Warm-ups will translate to an increase in strength and increase in calories burned.
In order for your strength to increase, you need to push your muscles to work past their comfort zone. So, the harder you push your muscles, the stronger they will become, and the warm-up can help you achieve this.
Without the warm-up, it is important to note that stretching may also result in injury, because trying to stretch tight, cold muscles is a recipe for disaster.
What do I do to Warm Up?
A warm-up can be a walk, jog or other brief aerobic exercise, or it can be a combination of light cardio and light weight training such as lifting a 5-pound dumbbell, prior to your actual strength training. The important part of any warm-up is to get your heart gradually pumping a little faster than baseline, and to get your blood flowing.
