Importance of Warming Up Prior to Exercising

     Most people who are in a rush don't think there is an importance to warming up before working out. However, they are extremely wrong. Not warming up prior to a workout can lead to muscle aches and fatigue. For people who are in a rush to get their workout in, waming up for just 5 minutes could change your entire workout. Avoid temptation, always do your warm up.
     Warming up doesn't have to eat up your whole workout time. It doesn't have to be boring either. You can mix together various moves in order to make your workout fun and as effective as possible.
An excellent warm up gets every muscle in the body moving. Even if you are not planning on using that muscle for your particular workout tha day, you should still warm it up.
     A warm up is not supposed to be apart of your workout or make you sweat. The point of a warm up is to slowly use muscles that you do not normally move throughout the day.
Affiliated exercises that meet the goal of stretching and waking up your muscles include:

• jogging on the spot
• doing jumping jacks
• lunging
• jumping rope
• simple stretches

     An effective workout always builds in intensity. If you are looking to shed pounds, doing this would be highly beneficial for you. Remember, even if you are struggling for time to workout, always fit in your warmup. Even if it is just jogging to the front door of the gym. It will do you a lot more good than harm and you will experience better results from your workout.

Indoor Warm-up Exercises

It is crucial to warm-up before any type of physical activity. Warming up is usually overlooked or totally avoided but it is beneficial to go into a workout with warm, stretchy muscles instead of cold ones. There are many simple warm-ups you can do inside your home in order to prepare for a workout. The following are some indoor warm-up exercises so that bad weather can no longer be an excuse for not warming up!

1. Hip Circles
    Trace the shape of a circle with your knee. You can start small and increase your range of motion as you go. Circle knee in both directions.

2. Leg Swings
    Perform leg swings foward/back, side to side and at a diagonal for mobility of the hips.

3. Dynamic Hip Stretch
    Pull knee up as high as possible. Grab ankle while rotating your knee out and pull up on your leg to feel stretch through the hip.

4. Torso Rotation
    Press palms together and rotate from side to side as far as possible. Keeps your knees bent slightly.

5. Shoulder Stretch
    Put arm on chest. Grab forearm with the opposite arm and pull until you feel your shoulder being stretched. Repeat with other arm.

Benefits of Warming Up Before Exercising

It is highly important to do warm-up exercises before engaging in any type of workout, whether it be a 15-minute workout or a 90-minute workout. There are many potential risks one could take without properly warming up before a workout. For instance, skipping a warm up can lead to sprained and strained muscles, fatigue and body pain. This could result in one having to skip a workout, which no one likes doing if they're trying to keep on track. Fortunately, there are various benefits to warming up before exercising. 

• Restores elasticity in your muscles

 Warming up your muscles improves their flexibility. It is not necessary to stretch your muscles until you feel the stretch, small movements can be just as beneficial. For example, you can do small arm circles to improve the elasticity of your shoulder muscles or you could do simple leg raises to supply comfort during a run. 

 

• Stimulates body circulation

Warming up doesn't only help your muscles during a workout; it helps your blood pressure stay steady during your workout. It also improves the mobility of your limbs. When your circulation is increased, you may feel like you can endure your workout for a longer period of time. Stimulating circulation will also help fluids be properly absorbed into your muscles, exactly where you need them after a workout.

 

• Limits fatigue 

Warming up will help your muscles get through your workout without feeling pain later on. Without warming up your body will not be able to run for as long as you like, you won't be able to lift that extra set of weights or dance as long as you need to. 

 

 

• Gain more muscle control

If your muscles aren't warmed up before dancing or doing any other workout, they are rusty. You may find it difficult to do that move in yoga or finish that 1 minutes plank. Warming up prior to doing any type of exercise will improve your body's muscle control.