Did you know that warm up before exercise affects the effectiveness of your exercises? A body that begins physical activity by warming up before exercise will experience better benefits than a body that gets into core movements right away. Warming up plays an important role in signaling the body that it’s going to do heavier movements. When this message is received, the body becomes better prepared. The result is an injury-free workout and a body that can adapt to changes in hormones and muscle performance.
Proper warm up before exercise
Warm up before training should not be done carelessly. While it may seem easy, incorrect warm-up movements can actually cause injury in sports. A random warm-up will also only tire you out. Here’s how to properly warm up.
How to warm up before exercising your neck and head
The warm up before exercise should be done in all parts of the body, from the head to the feet. The first step is to relax the neck muscles through head movements. First rotate your face left, right, up and down with repetitions 2 times 8 counts. Apply light pressure to the chin area with the palms of your hands.
Second, make a circular motion of the head, alternately taking the left and right sides. Do it slowly so that all parts of the neck muscles are evenly stimulated. For circular movements, both get 2 by 8 counts. Warm up your neck in a relaxed manner, because moving too quickly will make you dizzy and lose your balance.
How to warm up before exercising your arms
Just like when warming up the neck muscles, the posture is straight and straight, feet shoulder-width apart. For the first movement, stretch your hands left and right, then apply pressure with your other hand. Do it for 2 times 8 counts. In the second movement, rotate the left and right hands alternately forward and backward.
Do it slowly so as not to injure the joints. Also, do repetitions 2 times 8 counts. Many sports move where the arms are the pivot. So, relaxing the muscles before engaging in the trunk movement will protect the body from sprains or pain during exercise.
How to warm up before exercising your shoulder
Although the shoulders experience movement when you warm up your arms, you need to add specific movements to perfect them. The warm-up before shoulder training is done in circular movements forwards and backward. Do it casually, but give it a little emphasis each round. Just like the arms, the shoulders often carry the weight of the body when exercising. If you are not properly relaxed, you may experience cramps mid-workout.
Upper body warm-up
After each part is relaxed, move on to movements that involve all upper body components, beginning with the neck, back, hips, and arms. The trick is to assume an upright posture and keep your feet shoulder-width apart, then lean your body until you form a 90-degree angle. First straighten your arms and swing them left and right, followed by neck movements in the same direction. When you’re done, continue with a straight-kneed bending motion. Alternately touch the toes of your left and right foot with both hands. Repetition for this section is also enough 2 times 8 counts.
Warm up knees
Your knees carry your entire body weight. Typically, many injuries in the form of pain in this section are caused by inflexible muscles. For this reason, regardless of the type of exercise, warming up the knees should not be missed. There are several ways to warm up for your knees before exercising.
First, alternately bend your knees back and hold with your hands 2 times for 8 counts. Second, bend your knees to the front side, and hold with the same reps. This movement simultaneously trains the body’s balance levels. Third, bend your knees to form a 10 degree angle, and do a circular motion back and forth.
Leg warm-up
This warm-up specializes in the joints in the ankle. Alternate tiptoe movements, rotating your ankles back and forth. The repetitions for this exercise are the same as the previous movement, which is 2 times 8 counts. Even though warming up the ankle looks trivial, if you miss it, the risk of injury to this part is also great.
Warming up all parts of the body
There are two ways you can do to integrate heating in all parts of the body. First, do running movements in place at high speed. This movement can stimulate the upper body, and lower body resistance. Second, do a jumping jack, which is a jumping exercise by adding the movement of opening and closing the arms and legs together. Just like running on the spot, jumping jacks are also able to have a simultaneous effect on all the muscles of the body.
The Benefits of Warming Up Before Exercising
If you don’t know it, you don’t love it, as well as your mindset regarding how to warm up before exercise. Therefore, knowing the benefits of warming up will help increase your motivation to do it.
Prepare the body muscles
Have you ever had cramps while swimming? Well, this is an example of the body’s reaction being surprised when it is required to make a new movement suddenly. When this happens, the muscles will go into spasm, resulting in cramps. It’s a different story if you do a warm-up in the form of a short jog around a section of the pool. Then the upper and lower body have adapted, and are ready for activities, and are more adaptive to changes in temperature.
Stimulates blood and oxygen circulation
A body that masters how to warm up before exercise will find it easier to circulate oxygen to all its parts. Therefore when exercising, you can feel the sensation of being fresh, fit, and become more excited. It’s different when you’ve just started exercising and are exhausted, sluggish, and immediately want to rest. This indicates you are still not comfortable with changes in oxygen levels in the body.
Relaxes muscles
Someone who has mastered how to warm up before exercising will have better muscle flexibility. Shown with more repetitions so that the movements appear more flexible. Well, you can feel this if you regularly warm up. If you miss it, then all you feel is a stiff body and it’s difficult to be invited to move freely.
That’s a guide on how to warm up before exercising. For the record, do each movement slowly and relaxed, so that all joints can adapt properly. For beginners, it is not recommended to warm up using additional weights. Also don’t force yourself to do high reps, but add movements gradually.