Why Warm Up Before You Exercise

Exercising regularly is vital if you want to keep fit and healthy. As difficult as it might be to take time out of our busy schedule, exercising is something that we owe to ourselves and our bodies. Our body needs our attention too, and thus it is crucial that we take necessary measures to stay healthy.

Before you perform your workout routines, you need to understand the importance of your exercise warm-up. Your workout will not be able to bring about the desired results if you do not perform them in the right manner, and warm-ups are a crucial part of exercising.

Why is warming up before exercise important?

It is in human nature that we do not feel motivated to do something unless we realize its importance. Perhaps at times, you want to complete your workout quickly and think your warm-up is a waste of time. To ensure that this does not happen, you need to understand what makes the exercise warm-up significant. Let us shed some light on it.

Stress on your heart

If you start doing intense workouts suddenly, your heart will not be prepared for it and will put a lot of strain on the heart which can be dangerous. Preparing your heart for what lies ahead can ensure that no problems occur when you begin your workout. Prepare your body for the increase in oxygen demand that is likely to come with workouts gradually.

Chances of injury

It is not uncommon for people to incur soft tissue or muscle injury while exercising. Such injuries might render you incapable of being active for a long time and you will need to give yourself ample time to recuperate. Warming up prior to exercising makes your body-conscious and alert, thereby reducing the chances of an injury.

Preparing your muscles

It is vital that more blood is pumped to the muscles during the workout since oxygen demand is significantly increased. Tendons and ligaments acquire more flexibility with increased blood flow, which ensures that the joint moves smoothly. More blood circulation also leads to the muscles getting more nutrients, thereby leading to more production of energy. Warm-ups can make sure that your muscles are prepared to perform the routines you have in mind.

Mental preparation

Similar to your body, your mind too needs to be prepared for the exercise routines. Exercising is all about motivation and inner strength. If your mind is not in it, you will not be able to perform your routines properly, and this is where exercise warm-up comes to your assistance.

Your performance

At the end of the day, it all comes down to performance. You would want to make sure that you do everything in your power, which would improve your exercise performance. According to studies, performance levels are increased significantly with exercise warm-ups.

Benefits of indulging in a Proper Warm-Up

Before commencing with your workout, you prepare your body, heart, muscles, and lungs with what is about to come via warming up. You get the opportunity of getting your body to prepare for indulging in the strenuous routines via warm-ups, so it is not taken up by surprise. Let us take a look at some of the benefits that come your way if you perform proper warm-ups prior to exercising.

Increase in muscle temperature

Warm muscles relax quickly and contract with more force. This reduces the risk of overstretching, thereby reducing the probability of sustaining injuries. Warm-up also increases your overall body temperature, leading to improved muscle elasticity. Thus, your speed and strength are enhanced significantly, owing to warm-up.

Increase in blood temperature

As the blood makes its way through the muscles, its temperature increases. The rise in temperature causes the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin to weaken. Thus, oxygen becomes more readily available to the muscles, thereby improving endurance.

Dilatation of blood vessels

Warm-up increases the blood flow, and thus, less stress is placed on the heart to fulfill the oxygen demands of the body.

Increase in range of emotions

As the range of motion increases with a warm-up, your large joints are able to reach maximum potential, thereby improving your performance.

Overheating is avoided

Warm-up activates the heat-dissipation mechanisms in the body. As a result, the body cools down efficiently, and overheating is prevented. This is all the more critical when you are indulging in a strenuous aerobic activity like running or cycling.

Hormonal changes

As you warm-up, there is an increase in the production of certain hormones in your body, such as epinephrine and cortisol. These hormones have the responsibility of regulating energy production. An exercise warm-up makes sure that more nutrients are available for producing energy.

Final words

As crucial as the warm-up is, you also need to realize that warming down is equally vital. Warming down is more often than not neglected. However, make sure that your body returns to its normal state gradually. Avoid stopping suddenly.