Did you know that a proper warm-up routine can not only increase the efficiency of your workouts but also prevent several injuries?

“If you spend too much time warming up, you'll miss the race. If you don't warm up at all, you may not finish the race.”

- Grand Heidrich

Sports doctors, physical trainers and therapists from all over the world have time and again stressed the significance of warm-up routines. These exercises and stretches not only act as a measure of safety but also make sure that you get the most out of your workouts.

Why are warm-ups a must?

Everyone experiences at least a few sports injuries in their lifetime. It may be sustained while doing workouts, playing sports or even simple stretching. What if I said that you could have avoided some of those injuries if you just had a proper warm-up routine? That is how important they are. Shifting straight from a resting phase to dynamic movement often takes the intricate parts of our body by surprise. This results in several kinds of injuries including pulled hamstrings, sprained muscles, ligament tears, and so on. Warming up gives our body the time it needs to get into the groove, thereby preventing different kinds of injuries. In short, warm-up regimens facilitate a smooth transition from inactivity to dynamic activity.

What happens during a warm-up session?

Warm-up sets slowly rev up the heart rate, relaxes the various parts of the body and increases its temperature before we start with serious workouts. Proper warm-ups result in optimized performance in the course of sports training and working out, in addition to preventing several injuries. They prepare the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, respiratory system and cardiovascular system to accommodate the needs of strenuous physical activity by gradually building up the demands on those systems. Thus, we can get on with our workouts for longer periods without feeling exhausted, but hungry for more.

Difference between warm-up and stretching

While warm-up exercises are fairly simple to understand, people often tend to mistake them for stretching. Stretching aims at improving our body’s overall flexibility and range of motion. The best time to indulge in stretching exercises is after a warm-up and/or workout session. This is when the body is properly warmed up and is at its most compliant state. You can include a few stretches that incorporate the basic movements of your workout as part of your warm-up drill to increase its overall efficiency. For example, if you are warming up for a game of football, you can do a few butt-kicks, high knees, ladder-scissors, birdfeeders, etc.

Intensity and duration of warm-ups

Documented research on warm-ups suggests that these schedules should bring up the body’s temperature by 1-2 degrees in order to be effective. There are 2 kinds of warm-up, namely, general warm-ups and sport-specific warm-ups. While general warm-up works on the overall potential of the body, sport-specific warm-ups target the particular body parts that are going to be utilized in the subsequent activity. Experts suggest that warming up for 20-30 minutes is ideal. A brief rest period between warm-up and the actual workout should be included. However, by no means should this resting phase exceed 15 minutes.

How to plan a proper warm-up routine?

Your warm-up routine should directly correlate with the subsequent workout regime. A brief and general warm-up drill of 5-10 minutes followed by specific warm-up exercises for 15-20 minutes is enough to produce efficient results.General warm-up exercises include brisk walking, jogging, running, skipping, jumping jacks, forward jacks, knee lifts, hip rotations, upper body twists, arm rotations, forward and backward bends, neck rotations,etc.Sport-specific warm-ups correspond to butt kicks, high knees, birdfeeders, lunges, carioca, ladder-scissors, toy soldier, lunge and stretch, squat knee-ups, 90/90 stretch, quad rocking, and so on.

An extensive knowledge of how each of the above exercises affects the muscles and which warm-ups are ideal for the actual activity is necessary to come up with an efficient routine.It is strongly suggestedthat you take the advice of a physical trainer, physiotherapist or sports exercise specialist in order to get your warm-up drill correct. We at Zilaxo Advanced Pain Solution recommend you to always devote some time to warm-ups prior to strenuous exercise so that you can stay injury-free.

STOP SUFFERING, START LIVING!!

Note: Through the synergistic combination of Classical Homoeopathy, Ayurvedic-Unani Formulations and Internationally Acclaimed Advanced Physiotherapy, Zilaxo Advanced Pain Solution aims to eradicate joint pain, counter the process of degeneration and promote bone health. The protocol is at once scientific, effective as well as safe. To avail treatment at Zilaxo, call on 1800 419 6607 (Toll-Free) or WhatsApp at +91 98304 26607.