Pre-exercise Warm-ups
Why Warming-up Properly is Essential to a Healthy Workout
Warm-ups and cool-downs are often overlooked but they are as essential to a workout as the main training session itself.
The Purpose of a Warm-up
The main reason for including a warm-up at the beginning of a workout is to increase body temperature, raise the heart rate and prevent injury. Beginning a workout without warming and preparing the muscles will lead to pulled or strained muscles and dangerous changes in blood pressure.
Warming the Muscles
Muscles need to achieve a good flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients in order to perform well during hard exercise. The warm-up will build up the circulation and prepare the muscles to perform well.
Increase the Heart Rate Slowly
Starting a workout without a gradual warm-up can lead to sudden changes in blood pressure, abnormal heart rate and an inadequate flow of blood to the heart and other vital organs. All of these will stress the cardiac system and are very dangerous to the exerciser. To avoid a sudden surge an individual should start exercising at an easy to moderate pace increasing their exertion slowly and gently.
Two Types of Warm-up
There are two types of warm-up: a general warm-up and a specific warm-up. A general warm-up is most common and involves performing an activity using movements unrelated to those used during the main exercise session. The most common example of this can be found in the gym where an individual warms up on a bike but then moves onto a treadmill for their main workout.
A specific warm-up includes movements related to those used during the main workout. An example of a specific warm-up is a weight lifter performing squats, bicep curls and shoulder presses before he lifts his weights.
Components of a Warm-up
A perfect warm-up would consist of four elements: mobility exercises, a pulse raiser, stretches and a re-warm. Mobility exercises target specific joints and consist of gentle, rhythmic movements to prepare them for exercise. Examples of mobility exercises include shoulder shrugs, knee lifts and ankle circles. Mobility exercises are commonly performed by dancers or gymnasts.
All warm-ups include a pulse raiser, this is the term used for gradually raising the body temperature and increasing the heart rate. A basic example of a pulse raise is to begin walking and increasing the speed to a brisk walk over a couple of minutes. The next stage up is to turn the brisk walk into a gentle jog. This process should take between five and 10 minutes depending on the fitness levels of the exerciser.
At the end of a warm-up the exerciser should perform basic stretches and may feel the need for a re-warm before continuing into their main exercise session. Whilst stretching the body will cool and the heart rate will drop slightly so the exerciser may feel the need to increase these factors again. A re-warm should only take a few minutes and allows the body to return to the state it was in before stopping to stretch.
The importantance of warming up
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