I know some who say "ah, I warm up as I get going" or "the first part of my run is a warm up".
However, the warm up gently prepares your body for exercise and brings a cold, potentially stiff body up to manage the range of movement required for the exercise in a controlled manner to prevent injury. Just cracking on with a run isn't going to do that!
So what consists of a good warm up? Stretching on its own is not an appropriate warm up. A warm up should be exactly that, include activity that warms up your body by increasing the heart rate and blood flow. Stretching should not really be done when your muscles are cold.
However, the warm up gently prepares your body for exercise and brings a cold, potentially stiff body up to manage the range of movement required for the exercise in a controlled manner to prevent injury. Just cracking on with a run isn't going to do that!
So what consists of a good warm up? Stretching on its own is not an appropriate warm up. A warm up should be exactly that, include activity that warms up your body by increasing the heart rate and blood flow. Stretching should not really be done when your muscles are cold.
A good warm up should include these three steps:
- Mobilisation
- Pulse raiser
- Stretch
Mobilisation
Mobilisation is focused on getting your joints moving and stimulate the synovial fluid in your joints. For example.
1. Turn your head from left to right x 10
2. Nod your head up and down x 10
3. Rotate your shoulders forwards x 10 and backwards x 10
4. Rotate your arms forward x 10 and backwards x 10
5. Fold you arms across you body and open wide x 10
6. Rotate your hips clockwise x 10 then anti clockwise x 10
7. Kick you heel to you bum x 10 on each leg
8. Rotate your ankles x 10 clockwise then x 10 anti-clockwise on each foot.
7. Kick you heel to you bum x 10 on each leg
8. Rotate your ankles x 10 clockwise then x 10 anti-clockwise on each foot.
Pulse Raiser
As you can probably guess this section of your warm up is to increase your heart rate and get the blood pumping round your body.
Possible exercises are;
- Jogging
- Running on the spot
- Skipping
- High knees
- Star jumps
Anything that gets you moving. You should do this for a few mins.
Stretch
Now your body is warmed up, you should stretch. You muscles are like many pliable materials in that when they are warm they tend to be stretchier. You should focus your stretches on the muscles you plan to use during your session.
I recommend that unless there is a specific stretch you need to do, you try and do stretches in an upright position rather than any where you are sat down - save those for the cool down!
Sources
http://www.nsmi.org.uk/articles/injury-prevention/warming-up.html
