Isn't Warming Up Before Exercise Just More Exercise?

It can be tempting to skip a warm-up prior to exercising for a variety of reasons. Whether you're on a time crunch, aren’t a fan of stretching, or simply want to get your workout over with, it can be easy to gloss over your warm-up and jump right into whatever movement you love most. Because why workout before you workout?

Turns out a warm-up is basically a wake-up call for your body. It quite literally warms the body up and raises your core temperature slightly in order to make the muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints, etc. more mobile and flexible in order to improve performance and prevent injury. It also increases blood flow, which supports the body during exercise by better facilitating the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to working muscles.

Contrary to misconceptions, a warm-up isn’t the same thing as the form of static stretching you were taught about as a kid. Just holding a stretch doesn’t replicate the motions and activity that you will be doing, and doesn’t start to get the muscles working ahead of your exercise.  This means that you aren’t preventing injuries, and in fact, there is some suggestion that it can actually negatively affect workouts. Likewise, getting on a bike or treadmill and performing a cardio warm-up of 30 minutes doesn’t really warm you up for anything other than running.

Instead, your warm-up session should involve foam rolling and/or dynamic stretching—performing gentle repetitive motions in a way that gradually increases motion, circulation, and muscle length. This will be more time efficient and productive overall.

Foam rolling is best done before static stretching to loosen up knots in the muscles. You may then follow your foam rolling with dynamic stretching.

Dynamic stretching should include motions that replicate your planned exercise, such as inchworms and the world’s greatest stretch. Even at a low-intensity, these dynamic movements will slowly increase your heart rate and raise your body temperature. This is believed to improve the muscle elasticity and allows for more efficient cooling and oxygen exchange, thus preparing the body for the exercise that you are about to perform. Your warm-up routine can also be prescribed based on your own fitness needs, as we do for Individual training programs.

Another one of the great benefits of warming up, is that it can help get you in the right headspace for an effective workout. And when that happens, you’re more apt to simply enjoy your sweat session. Moreover, your workout is more pleasant when you gradually ramp up the intensity with a good warm-up. Having a positive workout experience will then make you more likely to break a sweat again, which is important if your goal is to exercise for the long haul.

And the best news of all? The warm-up should only last about five to 10 minutes. That’s it! Not too bad considering it can prevent you from getting injured. If you are still not warming up or are stuck in Elementary School PE mode, click the button below for a complimentary assessment. Our Success Studio personal trainers would love to help you out with warm-up (and even cool-down) ideas!