Use very light weight and high reps for the first set of each bodypart worked. stressrelief (Begin with 25% of one-rep max and use strict form.) Slowly increase the weight used over the course of your workout, pyramiding up to the heaviest amount. For a cardio workout, your warm-up should: increase your heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, dilation of blood vessels, joint lubrication and muscle and tendon elasticity. It should also include: Low-level aerobic activity that uses the same muscle groups and similar movement patterns that will be used during the main workout. Static stretches for all major muscles groups, especially the lower body.

The top 10 activities that don''t count as warm-ups. Some of the following ideas may be incorporated into your warm-up, but none should be used as the sole activity when preparing for higher stressrelief intensity exercise. stressrelief 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."

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