The Importance of an Effective Warm-up.

With There may be a few kinds of people reading this article:

• One could be the person who feels as though it takes a while to get moving and feel good while exercising
• Another could be the person who is over eager and keen to get started! 
• Or you could be the person who is constantly experiencing pain, niggles or injuries from exercise
  

If you are any of these people then keep reading, as you need to know why it is important for you to properly warm- up!


Essentially, as the name suggests a warm-up is done to get the body ‘warm’. Pretty simple really, but why is this important?


Well, a good warm up will increase blood flow to your muscles, supplying them with oxygen for the workout and raising their temperature. This will then improve your muscles' flexibility, efficiency and increase joint range of motion. A warmer muscle has the potential to contract more forcefully and at a faster rate than cold muscles. In turn this will then improve your overall performance, allowing you to perform to your full potential on the sporting field or get the most out of your workout!

It will also decrease the likelihood of your body experiencing an injury as you activate your stabilising muscles, which improves your movement coordination, and also improves your muscles range of motion and flexibility.

As well as properly preparing your muscles physically, a warm-up is also a great opportunity to practice and prepare for skills associated with the activity. You can use the warm-up to work on technical aspects of movements, such as jumping and landing with correct form. Or you can practice skills such as throwing, catching and kicking without as much pressure to improve your performance.


You beauty, you know the benefits of a good warm-up, now you need to know how to warm up: 

A good way to design an effective warm-up is using the RAMP Protocol:

Raise, Activate, Mobilise, Potentiate.

RAISE: Raise body temp, heart and breathing rates, and increase blood flow to working muscles. This could be done through exercises such as brisk walking, cycling at a low intensity, or body weight movements such as high knee marches, squats, straight arm and leg kicks, arm circles, knee hugs, or any movement that is low impact and dynamic in nature.

ACTIVATE: Activate the main muscle groups. One study found that warm-ups which involved similar movements and muscle activations, which are to be used in the sport or exercise session being trained for, resulted in improved performance 79% of the time. So think about what muscles are about to use and start to move these. 

MOBILISE: Mobilise the key joints. This works hand in hand with ACTIVATE. Think about what joints are going to be used and are important for your activity and take them through their range of motion. 

POTENTIATE: Work up to the level of intensity that will be produced during the exercises or sport. It is important to slowly build through-out your warm up so your body can adjust to the changes required for an effective performance.This will reduce your risk of injury throughout the activity as your muscles temperature is sufficient to work at higher intensities.


Hopefully this blog has given you an idea on the importance of an effective warm-up and how it can be performed. One final bit of advice is to try to make it enjoyable, get creative and have some fun with it as well.. Especially if in a team environment! 

Gone are the days of standing still and stretching before sport. If this is still your warm up please consider the points from this article in your next warm-up and watch your performance improve! 


If you are new to exercise, or would like some guidance on how to effectively warm-up and prepare for an exercise activity then please get in contact. We would love to help you!