This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 1:12 am and is filed under Healthy Knowledge, Performance Stretching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
This is one of the most common bad habits of gym enthusiasts! You finally committed yourself to a fitness routine, and you don’t want to waste any valuable time. Often individuals jump right into exercising without considering warming up or stretching because it seems meaningless and a waste of time.
Warming up and stretching should be the foundation of your exercise. They should be viewed as a transition into exercise, allowing your body and mind to prepare for strength training, running, endurance, etc. This is your reward from a proper warm-up/stretch and cool-down/stretch:
- Improved coordination
- Your muscles and connective tissue loosen to prepare for the stress of exercise
- Oxygen and blood flow to your muscles and connective tissue increases, providing fuel for better muscular performance
- Tension in your body decreases
- Breathing patterns establish, helping relax the body during exercise
- Joints are lubricated to allow for better performance
- Muscle soreness is prevented and/or reduced during and after your workout
- Quicker reaction time
- Improved posture
You’ve probably exercised without warming up, your stretching is non-existent, and maybe nothing horrible happened. It may seem unnecessary, but consistently skipping it will limit your results and put yourself at risk for injury. You could even be injured without even knowing it since you may not feel any pain right away.
