This question is often asked and many new athletes often don’t know how to warm themselves up. Many athletes have been looking for ways to better train themselves and this should be achieved by having proper warm up session. There are many ways to perform warm up, but the common methods are by performing calisthenics and light running. During warm up sessions, athletes may also perform various static stretches sessions. There are common objectives of effective warm up sessions, such as activating neuromuscular system, boosting the nervous system, flexing the muscles, elevating the body core temperature and instructing our body with basic movement mechanics.
Body core temperature can be elevated by increasing the heart rate. By making muscles more flexible, we could reduce the chances of injuries. In order to safely make our muscles more flexible, we should perform this task in a warm environment. It means that we need to encourage our circulation and accelerate our heart rate. Warmer muscles are usually more pliable, making it much easier for us to move during the actual training session. In general, the warm up session is about thawing out “frozen” bundles of muscles. Higher flexibility should also allow us to reduce the possibilities of joint, tendons and muscles traumas.
In general, our body should be able to meet the progressive demand of a rigorous training session. In order to elongate the musculature and elevate core temperature, we need to incorporate dynamic jogging, skipping, bending, marching, rotating and walking movements.
We should know that sports are multi-directional activities, so we should make sure that our warm-up routines can support these demands. Improvements in general athleticism, coordination and balance should be considered as the positive by-product of performing proper warm-up session. Warm-up session could also boost our nervous system by “sounding the alarm”. We could consider that our body need a transition phase before an active physical phase. We may compare it with the feeling of lethargy wjen we wake up late. Warm up sessions can deal with this kind situation.
When our nervous don’t get excited enough, it is possible that our ability to produce force, specific range of motions and movements patterns will be inhibited. Muscles won’t act as expected if they don’t get enough electrical impulses. The activation phase is all about making sure that our muscles already receive the right kind of electrical commands to perform their functions. Warm up sessions should also allow us to teach our body to memorize basic movement mechanics. When we perform warm ups, we usually use basic physical movements and the sheer repetition could actually help our body to move better.
However, we should move consistently and properly, so our movement patterns can be corrected and become more efficient. “Muscle memory” is a real concept and warm up sessions should make our muscles fully conditioned to basic movements that directly support our actual sports movements. Basic movements include leg actions, arm actions, body alignment and posture.