IMPORTANT REASONS TO WARM UP BEFORE EXERCISE
When it comes to exercising and working out, how many of you can honestly say that you warm up and cool down before and after every single workout that you perform? We know that warming up is important before training, but do you know just how important it really is? Warming up isn’t optional, it is essential, yet countless people fail to do so every time they train. Eventually, they end up paying the price. If you’re guilty of skipping your warm ups because you can’t be bothered, here’s a look at 4 important reasons to warm up before exercising.
Greatly reduce your chance of injury – One of the most important reasons to properly stretch and warm up before exercising is due to the fact that doing so will greatly reduce your risk of injury. As you warm your muscles up, your soft tissues in your muscles become a great deal suppler, helping reduce your risk of picking up a tear. When you stretch and warm up, you also increase muscle elasticity, which again means that the muscle fibres are far less-likely to rip and tear. On top of stretching and performing a warm up routine, experts also recommend a good quality warm-up massage gel to help warm the muscles up and prepare the body for a strenuous workout.
Improve athletic performance – The second benefit associated with warming up before exercising, is that doing so will help you perform better while training. By warming up you will not only be more flexible, but you will also have more energy for your muscles. You see, warming up helps to encourage more blood flow to the muscles. This increase in circulation means that more blood is carried to the muscles. Contained within this blood is oxygen and other nutrients that the cells in the muscles utilize for energy. By increasing your circulation, you are basically giving your muscles more energy before your proper exercise begins, so you will be able to perform much better.
Get in ‘the zone’ – Often when it comes to exercising and working out, it’s the mind that lets you down, rather than your body. If you’re struggling to find the psychological motivation and energy to exercise, then this is yet another reason to perform an effective warm up. As you warm up your core body temperature rises, your stiffness and soreness will begin to subside, and you have more time to mentally prepare yourself for the workout that lies ahead. Once you’ve warmed up your blood will be pumping, your muscles will have more energy, and your adrenalin levels will also have risen so you will be in a much better frame of mind to exercise and workout.
Don’t forget the cool down! – As important as it is to warm up before exercising, it is also equally as important to set 10 minutes aside to cool down after training. When you cool down you help return your heart rate to its normal rhythm and you help your tense muscles to relax as well. Again, a good quality cool-down-relax-gel cool down relax gel is recommended by experts as it helps the muscles to cool down after exercise and physical exertion.
Related Blog Post:
https://www.active.com/triathlon/articles/the-real-reason-you-should-warm-up-4682