Warming up and cooling down correctly are two of the most important things you can do in a gym. Not only are they essential for their injury preventing qualities, but they also serve to increase flexibility, increase the intensity and volume of weights lifted and speed up recovery time from the workout. So why is it that countless times in the gym I see people ignoring the warm up and jumping straight into a heavy set?
Others do 5 minutes on a treadmill, one 'lighter' set and some static stretches and then lunge into a full weights session. This is both an inefficient way to start your workout and the fast track to injury.
So why should we warm up before training?
An efficient warm up had been proved to facilitate a better workout in numerous ways, such as:
An efficient warm up had been proved to facilitate a better workout in numerous ways, such as:
· Shortened response times and increased contractile speed in muscle fibres
· More energy efficient contractions, due to the lower viscosity of warmed muscles that cause resistance to muscular force production
· Reduction of muscle stiffness thus reducing the chance of injury
· Greater oxygen uptake into myoglobin due to haemoglobin releasing oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures
Read the rest after the jump!
Read the rest after the jump!
