4 Ways To Warm Up Before Playing Sports
If you play sports or are starting a physical activity, you should consider that the most important thing is to warm up your body before starting to practice. Here we will explain the ways to warm up before playing the sport and bring well-being to the body.
Warm up before playing sport: what you should know
Warming up before sport is important, because if your body is cold at the time of exercise, you can get injured. Static stretches and dynamic warm-up are options, as are activities that speed up your heart rate.
Static stretches consist of stretching your muscles and preparing your body for physical activity. This type of stretch cannot go deep before starting the activity as it can cause injury. Dynamic warm-up, on the other hand, consists of performing dynamic exercises in a few seconds. This warm-up will help activate the central nervous system, preparing the muscles for a great workout.
Warming up before sports will improve blood circulation and make you have better sports performance. Therefore, in this article, learn how to warm up and strengthen your body.
1. Dynamic heating
Dynamic warm-up adapts to your fitness level and seeks to activate the body with short reps for a few seconds. In this type of warm-up, the parts of the body are stretched. In this sense, you should perform 10 to 20 repetitions per movement, so you will be able to warm up the muscle with small movements.
- First start with rotations of the neck, right to left and then raise and lower the neck. Then do shoulder rotations: place your hands on each shoulder and make circles, first forward and then backward.
- To stretch your arms, raise them to shoulder height and then lower them. For the hips and spine, perform a small left-to-right rotation. Another exercise is, with your legs straight, bending your torso until you form a right angle. The face should be looking at the ground.
- The legs can then be warmed up by performing 20 squats without added weight. Also perform leg swings, alternating both forward and backward. Finally, raise and lower your heels; this will stretch your toes.
2. Stretching
Stretching consists of stretching the muscles for 15 to 30 seconds to prepare the body before starting physical activity. In this type of warm-up there is no movement, only static exercises. In short, stretching is ideal for starting running or training.
- Start the neck stretch by rotating first to the right and then to the left. Then the movement will be up and down, but maintaining the extension.
- To stretch your arms, keep them straight out to the sides, then swing them and cross them in front of your chest.
- The stretching exercises are the same as the dynamic warm-up, however, with no repetitions. For the legs, squats will not occur, on the other hand, you should sit on the floor and stretch each leg taking your hand to the tip of your foot.
3. Trotting at a gentle pace
Trotting is the most common exercise for training as it speeds up your heart rate and raises your body temperature. So, before starting, remember to breathe deeply and start jogging at a gentle pace.
Remember that jogging is not running, because the pace is slow. For a good warm-up, it is possible to jog for 10 to 15 minutes, this time is ideal to activate blood circulation and prepare the body for the activity.
4. Jump rope
Jumping rope is an exercise that quickly speeds up your heart rate. Therefore, it is ideal for warming up before sport, especially for intense training and high-impact sports activities. Thus, it is a very common exercise in sports like boxing.
- Start the activity by breathing deeply and then start jumping rope. With 10 or 15 minutes of winding, you’ll find that your body will be activated, as your circulation and muscles will begin to work.
- However, do not exceed the time during exercise to avoid fatigue and have a better performance in training.
Stop making excuses! Whether running or weight training, a proper 5-10 minute warm-up is probably the most important part of the training day.
