What’s a warm-up? A warm-up is a gentle, slow exercise at the beginning of a workout which prepares muscles, the heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature for physical activity
Before doing any physical activities or sports,
you must have a warm-up session.
ALWAYS WARM-UP FIRST
AND COOL DOWN AFTERWARDS
Why? Warm-up – gradually gets your body ready for the training. There are three main reasons
1) It increases the temperature of your body,
and increases blood flow to the muscles.
2) It stretches the muscles and moves the joints
so you are ready for the job, and less likely to injure yourself.
3) It concentrates the mind on the training or sport.
You should warm up your cardiovascular system first. Do some gentle exercise like jogging, until you are out of breath. Then stretch.
THE MAIN BENEFITS OF A PROPER WARM-UP 1. Increased muscle temperature. A warmed muscle both contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly.
2. Increased body temperature.
This improves muscle elasticity, also reducing the risk of strains and pulls.
3. Blood vessels dilate. This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lowers stress on the heart.
4. Improved range of motion. The range of motion around a joint is increased.
5. Mental preparation
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE WARM-UP • TOTALITY: you should warm up all parts of your body: arms, legs, trunk and neck. • SPECIFITY: chose the exercises depending on the physical activity you are going to do later. • PROGRESSION: steadily increase the intensity and difficulty of the exercises. • TIME: the warm-up tends to last for ten minutes or longer.
PARTS OF THE GENERAL WARM-UP 1) Aerobic activity 2) Joint movements 3) Stretching
1) Aerobic activity. You should engage in at least five minutes of aerobic activity such as jogging, jumping rope,walking or running exercises or any other activity that will cause a similar increase in your cardiovascular output (i.e., get your blood pumping).
2) Joint movements. Move or rotate your joints, starting either from your toes and working your way up, or from your fingers and working your way down.
You should move the following joints (in the order given, or in the reverse order): • • • • • • • • • •
fingers wrists elbows shoulders neck trunk/waist hips knees ankles toes
3) Stretching You should engage in some slow, relaxed, static stretching. Hold each stretching exercise for 20-30 seconds.
You should stretch the following muscles • • • • • • • • • • •
sides (external obliques) neck forearms and wrists triceps chest (pectoralis major) buttocks (gluteus) groin (adductors) thighs (quadriceps and abductors) calves (gastrocnemius and soleus) shins (tibialis anterior) hamstrings (rectus femoris)
Finally Your warm-up should last for 10 to 15 minutes.