Benefits Of Warming Up Before Exercise

It is no secret that it is important to warm up before any type of physical exercise. Even professional athletes do warm up exercises before playing any game. This is because it allows your body to prepare for more advanced and intense movement. In other words, warming up prepares your heart, lungs, and muscles for the more strenuous part of your workout. 

Warming up before proceeding towards any form of exercise, whether its working out at the gym, or playing a sport such as basketball, is beneficial to your body for many reasons. Here are some:

Less Risk Of Injuries

 A light jog or jumping jacks before you begin your exercise will allow your  muscles to warm up.  Muscles that are warmed up are able to contract more forcefully and relax quicker, which reduces the risk of injuries. This is because cold muscles have slower reflexes are not able to perform as well, and this can lead to overstretching or spraining your muscles. 

Improves Blood Flow

As you perform warm up stretches, blood flow will increase to your muscles and increase your heart rate. As blood flow increases, the temperature of blood will also rise. This is beneficial as when the temperature of blood rises, the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin weakens so oxygen is more readily available to working muscles, which will improve endurance and help you keep up your performance for a sustained period of time. At the same time, the blood vessels will dilate, thus putting less stress on the heart.

Larger Range Of Motion

As your overall body temperature increases, muscle elasticity will also improve. This means that your body parts such as shoulders, knees, and spine will be able to move to their maximum potential. Cold muscles have a much smaller range of motion as the body parts remain stiff without a proper warm up. So, warming up is necessary for increasing muscle elasticity, which will enhance speed and strength, help you perform better, and prevent any injuries caused from overstretching.

Regulates Body Temperature

Starting off with warm up exercises sends signals to your body so that it knows that there will be more intense activity required. This activates a heat-dissipation mechanisms in the body, which allows your body to cool efficiently and will prevent overheating early on. As a result, warming up can allow you to perform for a longer period of time, without burning out and exhausting yourself prematurely.

Releases Endorphins

Warming up allows your body to release endorphins, which is also known as the “feel-good” hormone for its ability to improve your mood. The release of endorphins will boost your mood throughout the duration of your exercise. 

Therefore, warming up is a very important part of any exercise, and should always be the first step before moving into any intense work out or sports. 

Do you warm up before every exercise? What types of warm up activities do you prefer? Comment below!