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The warm up Part 1

PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World

Published: January 27, 2020

Have you ever been in such a hurry to get through that track repeat session, those cycling hill intervals, or that gnarly squatting and deadlifting routine that you totally blew off the warm-up? We’ve all been there before, but just because the warm-up’s so easy to nix doesn’t mean it’s…well, chopped liver…something to be done if you’re not harried for time.
I call blowing off a warm-up the 0 to 60 approach to a workout, and it can actually be hazardous to your health. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at just what it is about the warm-up that makes it so important to both our workouts and our bodies.
First, the warm-up can be defined as having two primary objectives - to enhance performance and to prevent injury. And it really doesn’t matter what kind of exercise or sport we’re talking about warming up for, because in the long run we’re still stressing our joints and ligaments, adding some type of load to our bodies, and bumping up our cardiorespiratory system. So the warm-up is critical to any fitness related activity.
Now regarding the physiological necessities of the warm-up, know that a proper warmup should increase blood flow to the muscles, increase body temperature, and slowly brings heart and respiratory rates up. As such the muscles and the heart receive oxygen faster, which helps them to become more efficient - thereby maximizing the efforts you’ll be able to generate both in your workout and/or in your competitive event.
And that increased blood flow also enables muscles to contract and relax faster, a fact that can be backed up by numerous peer-reviews studies that show an interconnection between the warm-up and an improvement in muscle strength and power.
In addition to the warm-up promoting increased blood flow within muscles, it also brings about an increase in core body temperature. And what makes this significant is that blood hemoglobin can release oxygen faster, which again helps to accentuate one’s performance level.
Look at it this way. When you’re comfortably seated in a chair reading, your skeletal muscles are receiving a minuscule 15-20-percent blood flow and your core temp is at baseline (98.6 degrees), which is primarily because most of the capillaries in the muscles are closed and the body is in an inactive state. But get off that chair and do a 10-12-minute full body warm-up and blood flow to the skeletal muscles gradually increases to 70 to 75 percent - in part due to those small capillaries opening up for business - and core temp steadily rises.
This is a prime example why that 0 to 60 approach to workouts can be dangerous. The human body just isn’t prepared to blast headfirst into an exercise or sport straight out of a relaxed state. You have to get it up to speed slowly.
Okay, so maybe I’ve got you thinking there might be some validity to the notion that a warm-up’s important. If so then you might be curious as to what a proper warm-up entails? And let me answer that question first by explaining what a warm-up isn’t…and it just might surprise you. Warming up isn’t that same ole same ole static stretching routine you see everyone doing prior to their exercise routines.
I think the NSCA (National Strength And Conditioning Association) address this issue rather succinctly in the book, NSCA’s Guide to Program Design: “Although well-designed warm-up procedures can enhance athletic performance, reduce the risk of injury, and lessen the potential for muscle soreness after exercise, it is important to realize that warming up and stretching are two different activities.
A warm-up consists of preparatory activities and functionally based movements that are specifically designed to prepare the body for exercise or sport. In contrast, the primary goal of stretching is to enhance flexibility. These distinctions are important because long-held beliefs about traditional warm-up procedures have recently been questioned.”
The preparatory activities and functionally based movements the NSCA’s talking about here are collectively known as the Dynamic Warm-up - and dynamic warm-ups should be specific to your exercise and/or sport.
And that brings me to next week’s column, where I’ll talk more about the dynamic warm-up and how to use it as a prelude to your exercise routine or sporting event.




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