FIND OUT THE BENEFITS OF WARMING UP.

The most common cause of discomfort, pain,  muscles and joints injuries when exercising is due to the lack of warm-up. That is why it’s necessary to spend a few minutes warming up before performing any physical activity.

The first thing you should know is how to warm-up properly; in the first stage we must make sure to increase our body temperature in general, for this we can perform 5 minutes of cardio exercises that increase blood flow and prepare our heart for training.

Then we continue with joint movements, in this phase we can make small movements, usually circular, involving all the joints we are going to work that day, such as shoulders and wrists. In doing so, you are lubricating your joints, which will give you better range of motion and better elasticity in tendons and ligaments. Once the joint movements are completed, we proceed to the last phase in which we warm up the muscles with strength or resistance exercises.

Now that you’ve gotten a better idea about the correct way to perform warm-up exercises, I’ll share a great list of benefits that will surely motivate you even more to never miss the warm-up:

• Improves performance and speed of muscle contraction, increases the muscular elasticity, avoiding sudden strains and muscle tears given the contraction and relaxation of the muscle. What also improves the speed and efficiency of your perform while you’re training.

• It accelerates the nerve impulse, that means that it also improves your reflexes.
  Prepares the muscles for exercise by sending oxygenated blood to them. This brings more benefits, like avoiding being out of breath or energy quickly as it increases the oxygen supply and improves the removal of carbon dioxide.

• It increases the flexibility and the mobility of the joints, reducing, this way, the risk of injuries.

• It clears the mind and it helps improve the performance during exercise routines.
  It prevents a dangerous and sudden increase of the blood pressure as warming prepares the heart for physical activity.

• It increases the mobility of blood through the tissues, so warming up makes the muscles more flexible. It also  improves the connections between nerves and muscles.

•  Optimizes coordination and times of action when exercising.

• It increases the heart rate and lung activity, improving its capacity and the use of oxygen.

• It improves the metabolism in general, managing properly all the different sources of energy.
  It contributes with the capacity of concentration and processing of the information during the exercise.

As you can see, there are many benefits you can get if you only dedicate a few minutes to warm-up exercises before beginning your workout. Do it right and prepare your body for exercise!