How to Warm Up Before Exercising
A proper warm up routine is essential for any exercise that you’re about to undertake. Doing warm ups prevents injuries and allows your body to prepare for the more strenuous exercise routines that are about to follow. Here are some steps that you can take for a complete warm up for whatever exercise routine you’re doing.
Loosen Up
Warm ups should be done gradually and in degrees, so it’s only logical that you start with the most simple of movements.
Breathe deeply. Proper breathing goes a long way in nourishing our bodies and lengthening our stamina. Take a few seconds just standing still and feeling your lungs fill with air.
Put your feet so that they align with your hips. Relax your knees and your whole body while retaining an upright position. Let your arms hang loosely at your sides. Inhale, and slowly lift your arms up sideways, until they are completely extended over your head.
After two seconds, exhale and put your arms back slowly to their original position. Repeat raising your arms and putting them back down again four to five times.
Assume your first position once again, with your arms loosely hanging at your sides. Inhale, and slowly put your arms again over your head, this time clasping your hands together. Tighten your stomach or abdominal muscles and round your back only slightly. Your buttocks should be slightly raised. Your arms should be in line with your ears. Stay in this position for a few seconds and exhale as you resume your original position. Repeat this step four or five times consecutively.
Slowly turn your head left and right for around eight times. Follow it up with rolling your shoulders back and forth another eight times. Do it slowly and deliberately.
General Warm Up
The goal of a general warm up is to elevate your respiratory and heart rate. A general warm up is considered a light physical activity that should take around five to ten minutes, working your body to a light sweat. This will increase the temperature in your muscles and will give you better static stretching, the next step in your warm up exercise. The intensity and impact of your general warm up also depends on how high-impact your regular exercises will be and whether you are a newbie or a full-fledged athlete.
To do a general warm up, you can do ten counts of jumping jacks, bouncing on a trampoline or jogging in place. You must keep in mind that these exercises should be done gradually, and that you should keep your breathing full and steady. These exercises should also be light and low-intensity, so don’t throw all your strength into it!
Another way to do general warm up is to become sport-specific or exercise-specific. All you have to do is a light-impact version of the exercise you are about to do. Just follow the movements without exerting too much. You can also opt to think of it as the slower version of the exercise. So for example, if your main exercise is bowling, you can imitate the movements that are required for the exercise, only with less exertion. The same goes for tennis, running and other exercises.
Stretching
Stretching is an important part of warming up as it loosens your joints, preparing them for the higher-impact and the stress of regular exercise. What is usually done in warm ups is static stretching, basically meaning you stay in place while the stretching happens. Here are some stretching movements that you can try out:
Extension Leg Stretch. Stand upright, setting both feet apart, in the same line as your shoulders. Put one foot half a step forward from the other foot and put your hands on your hips. Exhale and slowly bend your rear leg, resting your folded arms on the forward leg. Keep the forward leg as straight as you can, foot flat on the ground and your buttocks slightly raised. You should then slowly raise your forward foot to point your toes towards the ceiling. Hold it for a few seconds and put it back flat on the ground. Keep in position before straightening and doing the same stretch for the other leg.
Quadriceps Standing Stretch. Stand upright, inhale and slowly bend one leg backward, your hand grasping your foot firmly. Keep your abdomen tight and stay in position before doing the same on the other leg.
Shoulder Strangle. Stand upright, and extend one arm and cross it completely horizontal over your chest. Your other hand must then grasp the elbow of the extended arm completely. Hold this position for ten counts and do the same for the other arm.
Proper exercise requires proper warm ups to keep your body healthy and strong, and to prevent pulled muscles (Tips on how to treat a pulled muscle).