Discover Here The 4 Ways To Warm Up Before Doing Sports

Exercising is an indisputable source of well-being, but before starting any sport, it is necessary to warm up. In this way, the body is prepared for the effort to be made and injuries are avoided.

If you practice sports or are starting a physical activity, you should take into account the importance of conditioning the body in the first place. Next, we will explain some ways to warm up before playing sports and we will detail what are the benefits of taking these minutes of preparation.

If you spend all day sitting in front of a computer at work, your muscles will lose elasticity. To remedy this situation, you must practice some sport, which will allow you to stretch your muscles and joints and improve flexibility, as detailed in a publication of the Merck Manual on physical activity.

In addition, another of its advantages is that sport fills you with energy, since it activates the brain and muscles. All this set of consequences has a positive impact on the mood, and that is why it is so recommended. However, it is important to get it right.

What you should know about warming up before playing sports

In order to take advantage of the advantages mentioned above, it is necessary to take certain precautions. Otherwise, the experience with the sport in question could be negative and lead to effects totally opposite to those desired.

In the first instance, as detailed in a study published by Sports Medicine , warming up before playing sports is important because if the body is cold when exercising, an injury is more likely to occur.

Static stretching and dynamic warm-up are options for warming up, as well as activities that get your heart rate up. As for stretching, research published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine explains that, although they do not completely eliminate the risk of injury, they do prevent some of them, as well as reduce muscle discomfort.

On the other hand, dynamic warm-up consists of performing dynamic exercises in a few seconds. This warm-up helps activate the cardiovascular system and prepares the muscles for training, as detailed in a Mayo Clinic article.

Also, according to the same publication, warming up before doing sports improves blood circulation and allows for better sports performance. Being aware of its benefits, you only have to know how you can warm up before exercising. We will tell you.

1. Dynamic heating

The dynamic warm-up adapts to the level of physical condition of each individual and seeks to activate the body with short repetitions for a few seconds. In this type of warm-up, the parts of the body are stretched. You should do 10 or 20 repetitions per movement, for example, following this order:

• Start with neck rotations, from right to left and then from top to bottom. Next, perform shoulder rotations doing circles with your arms extended, first forwards and then backwards.

• For the hips and back, rotate slightly from left to right. Another exercise is, with the legs straight, flexing the trunk until it forms a right angle. The face should be facing the floor.
• The legs can be warmed up by performing 20 squats without added weight. Also perform leg swings alternating back and forth. To finish the warm-up, raise and lower your heels, so you will also activate your toes.

2. Stretching

Stretching consists of extending the muscles for a few seconds —in the case of the BJSM study mentioned above, 30-second series were implemented— to prepare the body before starting physical activity.

The stretching exercises are the same as in the dynamic warm-up, but without repetitions. In this type of warm-up there will be no movements, but static exercises :

• Begin the neck stretch, rotating first to the right and then to the left. Subsequently, the movement will be up and down, but maintaining the extension.

• To stretch your arms, keep them extended to the sides and then cross them in front of your chest without interrupting the extension. You can push lightly with the opposite arm to increase the stretch.
• For the legs it will not be necessary to do squats, but to sit on the floor and stretch each leg bringing the hand to the tip of the foot.

3. Jogging at a gentle pace

Jogging is the most common exercise to warm up, because it speeds up your heart rate and increases your body temperature. Before you start, remember to breathe deeply and begin your jog at a gentle pace.

It should be noted that jogging is not running, because the pace is slow. For a good warm-up, you can jog for 10-15 minutes.

4. Jump rope

Jumping rope is an exercise that quickly raises your heart rate. It is ideal for warming up before sports, especially for intense workouts and high-impact sports activities. Thus, it is a very common exercise in sports such as boxing.

• Start the activity by taking a deep breath and then jumping rope. With 10 or 15 minutes of rope, you will see that your body will be activated. You can even do less if you think you are ready before, since the idea is not to get tired before starting to train.

Warming up before playing sports is as important as training

Do the best you can, track the results for your warm-up too, and get better with every workout. With enough perseverance, you will notice that an adequate warm-up will allow you to increase your training intensity without problems.

Whether you are running or strength training, as with any other sports discipline, keep in mind that warming up is not optional. To prevent injuries and to be able to follow your planning without problems, you have to warm up before you fully strain your muscles.