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Warming up for winter exercise

Posted by: Andrew Cate (Weight, Men's Health, Fitness)
20 July 2012

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As the temperature drops, warming up your body before exercise becomes even more important. Warm ups serve two important functions - to improve athletic performance and to prevent injury. Warming up helps with the transition from a resting state into an active one. A warm up increases circulation and helps to prepare your muscles for exercise, making them more flexible and less likely to tear or strain. Here are some important tips to consider for your next pre-exercise warm up.

Longer warm ups are needed for intense exercise – The risk of injury and the physical demands on your body are higher if you’re sprinting during your workout, lifting heavy weights or pushing yourself at a high level. Make sure to warm out for at least 5-10 minutes beforehand.
Use the right muscles – Make sure that your warm up utilises muscles that are part of your planned activity. For example, a rowing machine would better prepare your body for a weight lifting workout targeting the upper body compared to an exercise bike. For many activities like tennis, running or cycling, performing your planned activity at a lower level of intensity for 3-5 minutes is all that’s required.
Don’t rely on passive warm ups – Other means of warming up your body such as compression garments or a hot shower are not suitable on their own as a warm up. These fail to increase your breathing rate, and are far less effective at preparing your heart and muscles for an increase in activity. Gradually elevating your heart rate to between 90-100 beats per minute is a good goal for your warm up.
Stretch after warming up – A warm up prepares your muscles for stretching, but stretching is not a good way to start your warm up. Cold, tight muscles are more prone to injury. Ideally, perform some light cardiovascular activity followed by light stretching (no bouncing) of the muscles predominantly used in your activity. Then, you are ready to exercise

Do you always warm up before exercise? What’s your favourite warm up routine?

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