A TO WARM UP OR NOT TO WARM UP, THAT IS THE QUESTION
Every athlete I know (including myself) is plagued with this dilemma. Most fitness classes taught in gyms typically slide right by the pre-workout and head straight to main sets. I’m sure all of those working out from home go straight from sipping on their coffee in the morning right into bicep curls and burpees.
Why? Time is the most common excuse. “If I have one hour to workout, I don’t want to waste any quality time!” Followed by embarrassment. “I look ridiculous skipping down the road, what if someone sees me, that’s not the way I run?” Ending with misunderstanding. “I just don’t get the point.”
Well, here’s the point, in fact there are a few:
Dilation of blood vessels causing an increase in oxygen supply to the muscles you will be asking to work. Oxygenated blood to muscle tissue is like air to your lungs, it is in fact called cellular respiration. The muscle uses the oxygen to produce energy which breaks down sugar for fuel. Warming up is akin to pressing the starter button on your grill. You have to get that pilot flame first!
Neural drive: This is the need for communication between the muscles you want to work and the brain that will fire up the signals to make it work. Warming up primes the electrical signaling between the brain, spinal cord and muscles. The better the priming, the more efficient the communication.
Increases the internal body temperature by 2-3 degrees. This is important because the internal heat can make the ligaments, tendons and soft tissue more pliable. Stiff tissue does not comply with loads, shearing forces, compression or power when in a cold state. In fact, cold inhibits flow of blood, lymph and fluids which is a real precursor to injury. A rise in temperature also increases enzymatic activity which improves the power of muscle contractions. You want to be more powerful? WARM UP!
What’s up with that stiffness and soreness the day after a hard workout? That is known as delayed onset muscle soreness and is the body’s result in trying to clean up the metabolitic mess left behind after shredding some muscle fibers. They body has to repair itself and soreness is the body’s way of telling you to LAY OFF for a bit while the repairs are going on. One way to reduce this time is you guessed it! WARM UP!
Comment below if you are guilty of skipping your warm ups. (Sheepishly hiding my face).
