The importance of the warm up

We’ve all done it, poorly prioritizing our time, getting behind in the daily tasks, showing up to a training session late, and skipping the warm up. When time is short, we cut to the chase by jumping straight into the main set. Lets take a moment to review a short list of the positive effects of a proper warm up:

  • Faster muscle contraction and relaxation

  • Increased reaction time

  • Lowered Viscous Resistance in muscle and joints

  • Increased Blood flow to active muscles

  • Increased psychological preparedness for performance (1)

Its obvious that these are all favourable outcomes for an upcoming training session or performance. The goal of any warm up is to prepare the athlete for both mentally and physically for the demands of the session, missing this integral part is generally a bad idea. It is important to recognize that several forms of warm ups can be instituted in different manners, whats most important is doing a series of activities related to your sport specific task without inducing further fatigue .

References- JEFFREYS I. Chapter 14 Warm up and Flexibility Training. HAFF,G. TRIPLETT,T. 2016 Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning 4th ed. Champaign IL. Human Kinetics pg. 318-320

Ian Pirie