Self Help

There are two elements in a workout routine that help to prevent you from getting injured while maximizing your performance. These are static and dynamic stretching. However, have you ever considered why we even do a warm-up routine? And, have you ever wondered if there are other aspects to a good warm-up routine?

When you perform a warm-up routine you are actually warming up your body. You cannot suddenly increase your internal body temperature or you would have fever symptoms. However, your muscle temperature can and should increase slightly so that your blood vessels can be dilated and your muscles can be loosened.

Whenever your blood vessels are dilated you have greater blood flow. This helps to oxygenate your muscles and remove any waste products from your cells. When your muscles are warm they are looser, suppler and more flexible. This reduces your chances of being stiff or of your body resisting certain movements. These things will help to keep you from being injured while preparing your body for high-performance activities.

A good warm-up will also raise your heart rate, respiratory capacity and overall metabolic level. This will help to deliver nutrients to your muscles. These nutrients will be useful during your workout. Warming-up will also lubricate your joints so that your risk of stretching or tearing tendons is much lower.

Regardless of the type of sport or workout you enjoy doing, it is important for your cardiovascular system to work well and your joints and muscles to be supple. If this does not occur then you will not perform at your peak and most likely you will eventually suffer from some type of an injury.

Spending 10 to 15 minutes warming up, doing both static and dynamic stretching, will help you to avoid these things. This activity should actually be a low-intensity version of the routine that you will be doing once your warm-up period is over.

You should focus the non-stretching part of your warm-up on the specific types of movement that you will be doing in the activity that you are going to engage in. For instance, if you are going to jog 5 miles, then you should take a brisk walk and do a few short laps (100 yards or less). On the other hand, if you plan to play a game of tennis or golf you should spend a couple of minutes taking low-speed, low-impact swings.

As you progress through your warm-up you need to gradually increase the speed and range of your movement. This will help to prepare both your mind and your body. Make sure that this is a gradual increase though so that your body chemical systems will slowly increase without being depleted. It also helps to prepare your mind for a high performance activity. Static and dynamic stretching simply cannot do this.

Whatever activity you choose to engage in, you need to make sure that you do not overdo it. Do not warm up too much or too fast. You simply want to prepare your body for a workout, not perform one here. The end goal here is to be ready to do your activity at peak level with minimal risk of injury.