IF YOU think you can skip warming up before exercising, think twice and learn more before doing so. Studies show that sudden exertion can cause heart attacks, even among individuals in good physical condition. Giving the heart time to warm up, makes the coronary arteries dilate, allowing more blood to flow through them for an adequate blood flow. In other similar studies, high blood pressure can also be triggered resulting from exertion without warming up.
Warm up consists of three exercises, relaxation, flexibility and strength in preparation to whatever sports you indulge in but often overlooked even by experienced athletes. Warm-ups are designed to get the heart rate up, it is also important for relaxing and stretching tense muscles. Tensions build up in the body, including those caused by exercise or training in a sport and should be released, that is why warming up, and cool down exercises before and after training is important.
Warming up together with relaxation exercises breaks muscle tensions that frequently causes muscle strains like back pain, warm up exercises also tends to tense and difficult to stretch muscles, and should precede stretching exercises.
The muscle works best at its maximum length, and the role of stretching exercises is to lengthen muscles like the hamstring and calf muscles along the back of your legs, this reduces stiffness and rigidity of the trunk, also muscles at its maximum length is more efficient producing more power, than a shorter one.
Warm up is the most important when you before engaging in any exercise/training because it helps to meet the increased demand of oxygen by the heart, lungs, and active muscles, because the small blood vessels are opened up not only in the heart’s coronary circulation but also but in the peripheral capillary circulation in other areas of the body. Warm up also stretches certain muscles exerted when exercising/training.
Warm up exercises also includes calisthenics. This conditioning will help in strengthening the muscles as well as improve posture and aid in injury prevention during exercise.