Warming up reduces the risk of injury when exercising.
The term warm-up is used in the field of sport to refer to the body movements that a person must carry out before engaging in intense physical activity , with the aim of loosening up the joints and muscles and thus minimising the risk of injury.
Warming up, also known as warm-up , consists of different exercises that must be carried out in an orderly and gradual manner. This allows the body to prepare for a more intense effort .
Types of warm-up
Warming up therefore optimises physical performance. A person who does not warm up their muscles before practising a sport increases the risk of suffering a muscle contraction or tear.
It is important to know that, based on the objectives to be achieved, the warm-up can be of two types:
-Specific, which, as its name indicates, aims to prepare the body for the practice of very specific sports activities. In this case, the joints and muscles are worked in a special way.
-General, which aims to prepare the body for normal physical activity. Precisely for this reason, low-intensity exercises are carried out.
Benefits of these exercises
In addition to improving performance and preventing injuries, warming up is very beneficial for the following reasons:
-It helps improve the pulmonary and cardiac systems.
-Increases the speed of muscle contraction.
-It is also considered to improve metabolism.
-No less relevant is that it also contributes to improving the ability to concentrate and pay attention.
-This list of benefits of warming up also includes the fact that it helps to increase muscle elasticity.
By warming up, it is possible to increase muscle elasticity.
Likewise, we must not overlook the fact that it improves oxygenation, increases physical dexterity, increases the strength of the body, improves the neural circuits in terms of the transmission of so-called nerve impulses... Not to mention that it significantly improves the elimination of carbon dioxide.
Stages of warming up
We said above that warming up is gradual : the intention is for muscle temperature to increase little by little. In the first stage, warming up is done with low-intensity exercises and, as time goes by, the intensity should be increased. At the end of the warm-up, the body should be ready for a great effort.
Although the routine must be prescribed by a physical trainer according to each individual case, generally the warm-up begins with a cardiovascular warm-up so that the muscles reach a minimum temperature. Then the different joints are moved and finally global stretches are performed. It is important to avoid, throughout the process, violent movements and bouncing that increase the risk of physical damage.
It should also be noted that the warm-up varies according to the sport to be practiced. Beyond the general warm-up, there are segmented warm-ups to prepare those parts of the body that are most used according to the discipline .