We all know we should warm up before undertaking exercise but do we actually know what a good warm up looks like?
With summer approaching – longer days and some better weather (hopefully) on its way – more of us take the opportunity to get out and be more active, whether that’s making the most of the extra daylight hours and getting out on our bike, or the dry weather letting us get back out onto the tennis court. But for some, this leap into activity will be cut short by an injury of some kind.
Whilst some injuries are unavoidable, linked to extrinsic factors – those outside our control – such as another player tackling us on the pitch, there are the things we do have control over. It’s these intrinsic factors that are key to helping reduce the risk of injury and what we should be focussed on when we start becoming more active.
One of the simplest ways to help us avoid injury is to make sure we complete an adequate warm up before starting any exercise. To most of us, that isn’t ground breaking or news to our ears, however, how many of you know what makes a good warm up?
The four main elements of a good warm up:
1. Mobilisation
Get those joints moving, starting with smaller controlled movements gradually increasing the range you’re moving through. An example could be some shoulder rolls into full arm rotations or hip circles gradually making them wider. This movement of your joints helps to stimulate the release of synovial fluid, which is your joint’s lubrication.
2. Stretching
Before you go holding that stretch, we don’t want to do static stretches before exercise. Static stretching can actually result in a decrease in power output from that muscle, meaning you’re making exercise harder for yourself. Instead we want to do dynamic stretches. These are movements which take a muscle in and out of an elongated position. So if you’re a runner ditch those heel drop holds off the curb and instead do calf raises off the curb instead. You could also do arm rotations so start stretching those muscles around your shoulder.
3. Increase your heart rate
Start moving more with increasing intensity to start getting your heart rate up. This in turn increases the rate at which oxygen is arriving to your muscles and warms the muscle tissue up allowing them to be more pliable and reduce the risk of muscle strains. This could be star jumps or high knees.
4. Sport specific movements
The aim of this phase is to start waking up the muscles you’re predominantly going to be using during your activity, including stabilising muscles which help your movements be more efficient. As the name suggests this is specific to whatever you’re doing. So think about what movements are involved in whatever you’re about to do and mimic those. A lot of exercise will involve elements of running, in which case lunges and calf raises are good examples of these.
As you work through the four main elements you’ll likely find there’s a lot of crossover between them. As you mobilise joints, you’re going to start taking muscles into stretched positions and given that you’re moving, you’re dynamically stretching.
As long as you are considering all four elements while doing your warm up routine, don’t worry about having to follow any strict order.
I hope this information will help you keep your body pain free as you embrace summer and the increase in your outdoor exercise, however if you’d like some personalised advice or a sports massage, please get in touch with me at walnut grove clinic, I’ll be happy to help.
You can message Tom using the booking link below, or give us a call on tel: 01275 818303
https://walnutgrove.Janeapp.Co.Uk/locations/walnut-grove-studio/book#/staff_member/13
