My observation is that too many of us don’t warm-up before we exercise. At the pool where I swim I see this all the time: a middle-aged person jumps or dives into the water and immediately starts vigorous lap swimming.
And I see it at the gym where I work out: someone walks in and sits at
the lat pull-down machine and starts jerking a much too heavy weight
up-and-down, thereby risking a serious shoulder injury.
Same thing at the tennis court: an elderly couple strolls out onto the court and without so much as doing a single stretch they starts banging the ball back and forth from the baseline(my elbow hurts just thinking about this.) And I could go on.
Why is this? Are most people in too big a hurry to warm-up or are they too lazy or just plan ignorant of the importance of warming up?
Warming-up prevents injuries and it makes for a better workout. It lubricates your joints, warms the connective tissues, activates your nervous system and charges up your circulatory system. You should always do some simple stretches before you do any type of exercise. And you should always start out slowly and increase your speed over time.
Riding an exercise bike or running on a treadmill will get your heart pumping and cause you to sweat but it won’t properly warm you up for resistance training or weight-lifting. The reason is the related joints and connective tissues you use for most resistance exercise (your elbow or shoulder, for example) are not activated during the aerobic exercise.
So if you immediately try to do some “bicep hammer curls” with a heavy weight you are risking a muscle strain that could keep you out of the gym for a few weeks or more.
When doing resistance training start with a low weight or resistance that allows you to do 30 or more reps so that the specific muscles and joints that are being exercised can warm-up. Do this first and then increase the weight or resistance so that you can do about 15 reps. Increase it again so that you can do 10 or fewer. Gym instructors or personal trainers who tell you otherwise are idiots, stay away from them.
When swimming, do a set of stretches (in or out of the water) that includes warming up your shoulders and stretching the muscles in your arms and legs as well as your lower back. Begin your swim with a couple slow laps and then increase the pace.
In tennis, after stretching you should warm up by hitting the ball inside the service box for a few minutes. This is not only a safe way of getting your heart and lungs, muscles and joints going--it is a good exercise in racket control.
Whatever the sport or activity, stretch first and start slowly. When you finish, don’t just stop, let your body cool down gradually. Swim a couple slow laps, hit a few lobs, do some more stretches. Think of your body as a machine that will function better when properly cared for.
For a great collection of stretches for 20 different sports: click here.
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