Why To Warm Up Before Any Exercise

Warming up may seem like a small an insignificant step before working out, however it’s something extremely important. Whether you prepare your body before the beginning of 
any physical effort.

Ways and means

Although the effects of the warm-up can be noted within a matter of five minutes, it should ideally last for more than 20 minutes. As well as taking into account the physical condition of the player, these routines should also consider factors such as the weather. On hot days less time should be spent on warming up, with the reverse being the case in cooler conditions. The appropriate clothing should also be worn.

Players need to warm up not just before a competition or a football Match but also prior to their daily training sessions. The intensity of the exercises should increase gradually although it is important coaches do not to wear their players out by making them warm up for too long.

So as you can see, there is a very good reason why substitutes get up off the bench and limber up pitchside, and coaches should make sure they are given enough time to prepare properly before sending them on to the field of play. However, the positive influence of warm-up does not apply only to professional players. It is as important and effective for everyone playing football just for fun – and helps in ensuring that the fun lasts.

Warming up prior to any physical activity does a number of beneficial things, but primarily, its main purpose is to prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity. The following reasons will help you better understand the importance of a good warm up:

1. Warm up helps in breaking down the chemical complex of oxygen and hemoglobin in the blood. This results in the release of oxygen from the blood, enhancing the delivery of oxygen to the exercising muscle.
2. Warming up reduces the potential for muscle and connective injuries by increasing the body temperature as warm muscles and tendons have been shown to be less susceptible to injury.
3. It increases blood flow to the heart. As more blood reaches to the heart it reduced risk for exercise-induced cardiac problems.
4. It decreases muscle viscosity (aka resistance) thus increasing the suppleness of the muscle. This enhances the mechanical efficiency and power of the exercising muscles.
5. It helps promote sweating and reduces the amount of heat stored in the body. This will help to prevent temperature from rising to dangerously high levels during (more strenuous) exercise.
6. It enhances the speed of transmission of nerve impulses which makes your motor skills better.
7. It gives you better muscle control by speeding up your neural message pathways to the muscles.
8. It helps more blood reach muscles and connective tissue. The more blood reaching the muscles, tendons and ligaments, the more elastic the tissues become. This means better performance and a reduced chance of injuries.
9. When you workout, you demand more blood and oxygen. Warming up helps the heart and blood vessels adjust to this idea.
10. It allows you to work out comfortably longer because all your energy systems are able to adjust to exercise, preventing the buildup of lactic acid in the blood.
11. The typical warm up should include light aerobic activity like: jogging in place, jumping jacks, & slow-speed treadmill walking. You should also stretch each muscle group that you will be working out.

Also, if you begin a workout without a warm-up, you may provoke an irregular heart rhythm. In studies of healthy people, abnormal heart rhythms were found in those who exercised intensely without warming up, but disappeared when an appropriate warm-up was included in their exercise routine.

So, as we see, warming up is something that our bodies need before any physical effort.