What’s a warm-up?

A warm-up is a gentle, slow exercise at the beginning of a

workout which prepares muscles, the heart rate, blood pressure

and body temperature for physical activity

Before doing any physical activities or sports,

you must have a warm-up session.

ALWAYS WARM-UP FIRST

AND COOL DOWN AFTERWARDS

Why? Warm-up – gradually gets your body

ready for the training.

There are three main

reasons

1) It increases the temperature of your body,

and increases blood flow

to the muscles.

2) It stretches the muscles and moves the joints

so you are ready for the job,

and less likely to injure yourself.

3) It concentrates the mind on the training or sport.

You should warm up your cardiovascular

system first. Do some gentle

exercise like jogging, until you are out of breath. Then stretch.

THE MAIN BENEFITS OF A PROPER WARM-UP

1. Increased muscle temperature.

A warmed muscle both

contracts more forcefully

and relaxes more quickly.

2. Increased body temperature.

This improves muscle

elasticity, also reducing

the risk of strains and pulls.

3. Blood vessels dilate.

This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lowers stress on the heart.

4. Improved range of motion.

The range of motion around a joint is increased.

5. Mental preparation

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE WARM-UP

• TOTALITY: you should warm up all parts of your body: arms, legs, trunk and neck.

• SPECIFITY: chose the exercises depending on the physical activity you are going to do later.

• PROGRESSION: steadily increase the intensity and difficulty of the exercises.

• TIME: the warm-up tends to last for ten minutes or longer.

PARTS OF THE GENERAL WARM-UP

1) Aerobic activity

2) Joint movements

3) Stretching

1) Aerobic activity. You should engage in at least five minutes of

aerobic activity such as jogging, jumping rope,walking or running exercises or any other activity that will cause a similar increase in your cardiovascular output (i.e., get your blood pumping).

2) Joint movements. Move or rotate your joints, starting either

from your toes and working your way up, or from your fingers and working your way down.

You should move the following joints(in the order given, or in the reverse order):

• fingers • wrists • elbows • shoulders • neck • trunk/waist • hips • knees • ankles • toes

3) Stretching You should engage in some slow,

relaxed, static stretching. Hold each stretching exercise for 20-30 seconds.

You should stretch the following muscles

• sides (external obliques) • neck • forearms and wrists • triceps • chest (pectoralis major)• buttocks (gluteus)• groin (adductors) • thighs (quadriceps and

abductors) • calves (gastrocnemius

and soleus)• shins (tibialis anterior)• hamstrings (rectus

femoris)

Finally

Your warm-up should last for 10 to 15 minutes.