The Importance of Warming Up Your Body Before Working Out
When you plan your workout, you think about what exercise you will be doing more than the warm-up before it. Let us see how you can gain maximum benefit from your workout by simply including a warm-up prior to it. A warm-up is an extremely important factor before your fitness training. It helps you in a number of ways as listed below:
1) For Your Heart:
The correct warm-up carries immense importance which begins with preparing your heart for the task further. A lot of people assume that warming up entirely comprises of stretching, but it is crucial to do five to ten minutes of light cardio exercises as well to raise your heart rate and pump up the blood in your body.
2) Cuts Down The Risk of Muscle Injury
A soft tissue or a muscle injury can result in a long period of rehabilitation and inactivity. It is often dreaded by athletes and sports enthusiasts. A good warm-up consists of ten minutes of cardio and another twenty minutes of stretching to get your body in the best shape possible to counteract this risk.
3) Improves Blood Flow
Blood is essential for your muscles to function efficiently while exercising. The ligaments and tendons are more flexible with an increased amount of blood flow. It helps the surrounding fluid to remain in the right consistency, which eases the joint movements. An increased blood flow also aids in the production of energy for the muscles.
4) Mentally Prepares You
The perfect warm-up will elevate your mood to make sure you complete your workout and do not get lethargic. It psychologically prepares you and puts your mind in the exercise mode. When your mind visualizes you succeeding as you warm up your muscles, you’ll automatically become more energetic, making you tougher for the action later.
While we now know how important warming up your body is before you start with your workout regime, how many of us know about a warm-down? A warm-down is often neglected, mainly due to people’s unawareness towards it. A warm-down is as important for the body as a warm-up is. It is extremely important to steadily return the body to its normal state rather than stopping it all of a sudden.
A simple jog for five minutes or the cardio exercises mentioned earlier will be perfect for a warm-down. It will help to get the heart rate back to normal and will also help in getting rid of the waste products like lactic acid, which makes your muscles sore after your workout.
So, keep working out and make sure you don’t miss out on your warm-up and warm-down as well! Live a healthy lifestyle and keep in touch with Fitness World for fitness related articles to keep you on track!
