The top 10 activities that don''t count as warm-ups. Some of the following relaxation&rejuvenationwithyoga ideas may be incorporated into your warm-up, but none should be used as the sole activity when preparing for higher intensity exercise. What counts "The idea is simple. A muscle in a resting state has a certain length. Warming up improves the ability to move the muscle through its entire range of motion without injury. While warmth applied to the outside of the body warms the skin and parts of the muscles close to the skin''s surface, it doesn''t effectively warm the muscles, particularly the deep-seated muscles and tendons."

For all types of exercise, your warm-up activities should: Take each of the joints through full range of motion. Increase body temperature. relaxation&rejuvenationwithyoga Get you psychologically tuned to what your body will be doing. Physiological reasons for warming up. Warm-ups help the body and its muscles to perform more effectively by: Slowly increasing muscle temperature. Serving as a dry run, which alerts the individual to potential musculoskeletal and other relaxation&rejuvenationwithyoga problems that may occur at higher intensity. Reducing the risk of exercise-related heart problems by increasing coronary blood flow. Improving the elasticity of soft tissues. Preventing early lactic-acid buildup and fatigue. Stimulating motor units of the muscles in preparation for a heavier workload.

"The idea behind warming up is to prepare the muscles for physical activity, You want to improve flexibility, strength, extensibility of the tendons and blood flow to the muscles. It should definitely be part of the preparation to any sport." Bodybuilders are at higher risk for soft-tissue injuries/traumas than most other athletes because of the heavy loads they place on their muscles. Kibbler says bodybuilders should warm up the entire body, not just the muscle to be worked, to maximize the benefits of weight training and minimize the risk of injury. When weight training, your warm-up should include: Light, aerobic activity -- jog in place, ride a stationary bike, use a stair climber or treadmill -- for 4-7 minutes. Static stretches -- for each of the muscle groups, especially those about to be worked.

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