Fitness Warm ups - A Significant Part of your Routine!
Fitness warm ups are extremely important when you are doing any physical fitness programs. If you don't warm up sufficiently or cool down when you are done, you will increase your chances of injury. A proper fitness warm up prepares your body for the workload it is about to experience.
We often end up missing our warm up, either because it's boring or because we don't have enough time and it feels like it's a waste to spend 5 out of your 30 minutes on warming up. This is unfortunate as without a warm up you increase your chances of experiencing an injury while you exercise. While these fitness warm ups are necessary, they don't need to be boring. Once you have warmed up you will find that your body feels ready to work and that your work becomes a lot easier. As a matter of fact, with the warm up you will also be at less risk of experiencing an injury when you aren't exercising.
When your muscles are warm, they stretch with more flexibility and you get a greater range of motion. When you warm up your muscles gradually they use oxygen more efficiently, this means you won't get out of breath as easily. Your warm up will improve your coordination and help to decrease any abnormal heart beats that might be brought on by sudden exercise. You can make your fitness warm up a slower version of the same activity you will be doing. So, for example, you may be going for a run. Rather start with amile jog around the block before beginning your training. Or when going to spend the time biking, you can warm up for the first 2 miles at an easy pace.
If you are doing weight or strength training, then for your fitness warm up you should perform it on a stationary bike or treadmill. You need to warm up at a pace that gets your heart beating at 50 to 60 percent of maximum. Your breathing should be harder than normal, but not as hard as if you were actually jogging for exercise. If you don't have an idea of what 50% of your maximum heart rate is, then try using this easy formula. Take your age and subtract it from 220. That number is your maximum heart rate. If you want to reach 50% then multiply the number by 0.5. For instance if you are 40 years old you would use this formula: 220-40=180 and then 180 X.5 = 90. 90 beats per minute is your target rate if your are wanting 50% of max.
Using a pillow and your body you can do the following fitness warm up exercises at home:
The lunge, which is done by standing straight with your feet together, you then step forward with your left leg and then sink until your thigh is parallel with the floor. Keep your weight on your heels and your knees, over the balls of your feet, which will protect your knees. Then bring your right leg up to the left leg and repeat with your left leg. You will basically be 'lunging' across the floor. You can modify this by carrying a pillow at chest height and as you are in mid lunge with your right foot forward, rotate left, hold for a second or two and then come back to the center before raising it back up. This will warm up your legs and build up both your balance and coordination.
When doing the stork, you stand with your feet together and then you extend your arms out to shoulder height, with your palms up. Raise your left knee, keeping your hips level, you should hold this for 10 - 15 seconds. Now with the knee still bent bend forward extend your left leg behind you and your arms out in front of you, as if you are flying. Hold this position for about 10 -15 seconds and then return to your starting position. Switch your legs and repeat, this will build help your strength, coordination and balance.
The twist consists of lying face down on the floor with your legs straight and arms extended outwards with you palms face down. Then bend your left knee and then rotate the hip and leg up and over the back until your foot touches the floor on the right side. Keeping your upper body on the floor, don't arch, hold this position for 1 -2 seconds and then repeat on the other side. This will build your core strength, stability and stretch.
Your fitness warm up is a significant part of your exercise routine as it will decrease the probability of injury, and definitely improve on your results.
We often end up missing our warm up, either because it's boring or because we don't have enough time and it feels like it's a waste to spend 5 out of your 30 minutes on warming up. This is unfortunate as without a warm up you increase your chances of experiencing an injury while you exercise. While these fitness warm ups are necessary, they don't need to be boring. Once you have warmed up you will find that your body feels ready to work and that your work becomes a lot easier. As a matter of fact, with the warm up you will also be at less risk of experiencing an injury when you aren't exercising.
When your muscles are warm, they stretch with more flexibility and you get a greater range of motion. When you warm up your muscles gradually they use oxygen more efficiently, this means you won't get out of breath as easily. Your warm up will improve your coordination and help to decrease any abnormal heart beats that might be brought on by sudden exercise. You can make your fitness warm up a slower version of the same activity you will be doing. So, for example, you may be going for a run. Rather start with amile jog around the block before beginning your training. Or when going to spend the time biking, you can warm up for the first 2 miles at an easy pace.
If you are doing weight or strength training, then for your fitness warm up you should perform it on a stationary bike or treadmill. You need to warm up at a pace that gets your heart beating at 50 to 60 percent of maximum. Your breathing should be harder than normal, but not as hard as if you were actually jogging for exercise. If you don't have an idea of what 50% of your maximum heart rate is, then try using this easy formula. Take your age and subtract it from 220. That number is your maximum heart rate. If you want to reach 50% then multiply the number by 0.5. For instance if you are 40 years old you would use this formula: 220-40=180 and then 180 X.5 = 90. 90 beats per minute is your target rate if your are wanting 50% of max.
Using a pillow and your body you can do the following fitness warm up exercises at home:
The lunge, which is done by standing straight with your feet together, you then step forward with your left leg and then sink until your thigh is parallel with the floor. Keep your weight on your heels and your knees, over the balls of your feet, which will protect your knees. Then bring your right leg up to the left leg and repeat with your left leg. You will basically be 'lunging' across the floor. You can modify this by carrying a pillow at chest height and as you are in mid lunge with your right foot forward, rotate left, hold for a second or two and then come back to the center before raising it back up. This will warm up your legs and build up both your balance and coordination.
When doing the stork, you stand with your feet together and then you extend your arms out to shoulder height, with your palms up. Raise your left knee, keeping your hips level, you should hold this for 10 - 15 seconds. Now with the knee still bent bend forward extend your left leg behind you and your arms out in front of you, as if you are flying. Hold this position for about 10 -15 seconds and then return to your starting position. Switch your legs and repeat, this will build help your strength, coordination and balance.
The twist consists of lying face down on the floor with your legs straight and arms extended outwards with you palms face down. Then bend your left knee and then rotate the hip and leg up and over the back until your foot touches the floor on the right side. Keeping your upper body on the floor, don't arch, hold this position for 1 -2 seconds and then repeat on the other side. This will build your core strength, stability and stretch.
Your fitness warm up is a significant part of your exercise routine as it will decrease the probability of injury, and definitely improve on your results.
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