Getting regular exercise is essential for maintaining your overall health and wellbeing, but it’s important to make sure that you do all you can to prevent injuries from happening… and, to this end, warming up can prove particularly beneficial.
There are all sorts of different ways you can warm your muscles up, with the aim being to prepare yourself both physically and mentally for the activity you’re about to engage in. As you warm up, your heart rate will increase, as will your blood flow, which means that more oxygen is able to reach your muscles.
Give yourself about ten minutes or so to get your warm up in before exercise, with a focus on light aerobic activity and some dynamic stretches. This could be anything from some fast-paced walking or jogging on the spot to side-stepping, walking up and down the stairs, arm swings, lunges or squats.
What is important is that you choose exercises that tie in well with the activity you’re about to do so that you’re warming the right muscle groups up. So if you’re going for a run, working your legs more than your arms may be the way to go.
Something else to factor in after exercise is your cool down period, as well. This can be relatively easy to achieve, as all you need to do is reduce the intensity of the activity you’re doing and this should be sufficient. A few gentle dynamic stretches afterwards can also help return your body back to a resting state.
It’s also important to pay attention to your body as you exercise. If something doesn’t feel right, adjust your form or do something else so you’re not putting any strain on your body. If you do feel as though you could benefit from a sports massage, get in touch with us today to see how we can help.