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Importance Of Warming Up
Understanding The Importance Of Warming Up Before A Bodybuilding Routine
Trying to squeeze a workout into a busy schedule is challenging. If you have a limited window of time during which you can exercise, you may be tempted to skip the warm-up so that you can jump right into your workout and get it done as quickly as possible. Once you understand the importance of warming up before a bodybuilding routine, however, the warm-up will seem far less like a waste of time and more like an essential component of your workout.
The idea behind warming up is that it helps you limber up, increases blood flow to your muscles, and gradually raises your heart rate. Combined, all of these factors can help prevent injuries and can allow you to achieve peak performance. Here are some of the primary benefits of including a warm up each time you work out:
1. Increased range of motion. Pre-workout stretching helps lengthen your muscles. This, in turn, increases the range of motion of your joints. From a performance standpoint, this allows you to work out at a more intense level, helping you to see faster results. Increasing your flexibility and range of motion can also prevent injuries by allowing you to react more quickly when something goes wrong.
2. Increased blood flow. Warming up gets your blood pumping, carrying oxygen and essential nutrients to your muscles. The temperature of your muscles also increases, helping to improve flexibility. Combined, all of these factors can improve your stamina and endurance.
3. A healthy heart. If you jump right into a high-intensity workout, it can cause your heart rate to rise too quickly, putting undue strain on your heart. Gently warming up before a workout, on the other hand, gradually raises your heart rate, helping to reduce the stress on the heart muscle itself.
4. Improved focus. A good warm-up routine can get your mind ready to focus on your workout. By mentally preparing you for the workout ahead, a warm up can allow you to increase the intensity and effectiveness of your bodybuilding routine.
5. Reduced muscle soreness. A 2007 study done by Australian researchers found that warming up before a workout helped reduce post-workout muscle soreness. Based on the results of the study, the researchers theorized that by increasing the temperature of the muscles before a workout, the myofibrils were far less likely to become stretched or damaged during the workout. This resulted in an overall decrease in post-workout soreness. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004951407700417?np=y)
Warming up before a bodybuilding routine isn't an unnecessary nuisance or a waste of time. Instead, it can help your body achieve peak performance, allowing you to get more out of your workouts. By increasing flexibility, improving blood flow to your muscles, and boosting your focus and concentration, it can help you maximize your results.
Perhaps more importantly, it can also reduce the risk of sustaining any workout-related injuries, ensuring that you can keep going strong for many years to come. When you consider the benefits of warming up, it is easy to see that you should make this simple practice a regular part of your routine.
Jan Jattne is a weight loss and health professional and the CEO of fit80. Check out Your3WeekDietSystem.com to learn more about his fast and effective weight loss plan.
