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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How important is warming up before an exercise?

    Related Topic
    Fitness and Sports Medicine
    • 1 answer
    • Anonymous User
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  • Anonymous User

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    Warming up is essential!

    Warming up will reduce your risk of injury (note - reduce risk, not eliminate risk) as well as preparing your muscles for an effective workout right from the start, as it will increase blood flow and prepares the muscle tissues for the work they are about to perform.

    What is a warmup?
    A warm up is some sort of light activity which is somewhat related to the activity you will be doing. For instance, if you are going to do a cardio session, doing some light walking/jogging before a run, or some easy cycling before a harder ride will constitute a warm up. If you are doing weight training, do a light cardio warm up for 5-10 minutes to get the blood flowing and the muscles ready for work, and then do 1-2 lighter warmup sets on the weights before you start the main part of the workout.

    What about stretching?
    Stretching was always thought to reduce the risk of injury, but recent research has indicated that it may not do as was once thought. Stretching (either static/traditional or dynamic - moving stretches like arm circles or leg swings) can be incorporated into a warm up, but should not be the only component of warming up.

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