Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Trainer Tuesdays: Why is it Important to Wam-up Before I Workout?


Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

Why is it Important to Warm-up Before I Workout?

http://fitnesstogether.com/brecksville/page/cardio
Jenn Noggle: Warming up before exercise is important for a number of reasons. For starters, it will help prepare the body gradually and safely for more vigorous exercise and help reduce the risk of injury. A low impact exercise, such as walking or biking will help the circulatory system to increase the flow of oxygen rich blood to working muscles.  As the movement of blood increases through your tissues, your muscles become more pliable and are less likely to be strained or torn. A proper warm-up will also prepare your heart for more intense activity by preventing a rapid spike in blood pressure. It will also improve the utilization of oxygen gradually so that you are not out of breath too early or easily. Make sure to start each of your exercise sessions with a warm-up for 5-10 minutes. This will ensure that you get the most out of your workouts and prevent those frustrating injuries/setbacks.

Justin Traft: Everyone always asks why is it so important to warm up before working out. Well here are some reasons why you should. First off, it’s never good to jump into working out if your muscles are cold and tight.  Increased Body Temperature  improves muscle elasticity, also reducing the risk of strains and pulls. Reason being is that you would run the risk of pulling a muscle. See, warming up helps you get the blood flowing through the body. Also, the temperature of blood increases as it travels through the muscles. As blood temperature rises, the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin weakens so oxygen is more readily available to working muscles, which can improve endurance.  Second, warming up helps with the muscles’ range of motion and joints are able to move a little more freely. Third, the warm-up is also a good time to mentally prepare for a workout by clearing the mind, increasing focus, reviewing skills and strategy. Fourth, your body increases its production of various hormones responsible for regulating energy production. During a warm-up this balance of hormones makes more carbohydrates and fatty acids available for energy production during your workout.

Adam May: Two reasons. It prevents you from getting hurt and it helps you perform better. Warming up can take many forms. It is important to do something to move the blood into your muscles so they are more elastic and able to take on more of a workload. How do you know you are warmed up? When you are sweating. If you are not sweating, you are not warmed up. I have had clients say things like "well i was just walking around Heinens for a while so i'm good, let’s skip the warm up." I don't care what you have done in your day to that point-- if you are not sweating, you are not warmed up. If you are not warmed up you are at risk of injuring yourself. If you get injured you can try to sue me. Since I don't feel like getting sued I will not train anyone unless they are warmed up. It is also important to do something specific to the exercise you are about to do. This prepares the specific muscles that are about to be used for an intense workload. I generally have my clients do a warm up set for the exercise they are about to do with a lighter weight. When I say we are doing three sets of an exercise, sometimes after the second set clients think they are done; but, we still have one to go. The first set doesn't count. It was a warm up set. Baseball is a good analogy to this. Hitters get warmed up before the game, and they also take practice swings on deck before their at-bats during the game. Pitchers warm up before the game, and they get warm up pitches between innings before they face live hitters. Same concept with working out only when the players get hurt, they don't sue their team.

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