In today’s article I will explain the benefits of a proper warm up routine. I will talk about:

• the purpose of a warm up
• benefits of a warm up
• recommendations for a quick warm up routine

Do you warm up before every training session or match?

For most of you the answer is no. Many recreational athletes don’t warm up at all or perform warm up exercises that are inappropriate (e.g. static stretching before competition). This generally results in a decline in overall performance and increases the risk for injuries.

Purpose of a Warm Up Routine

The objective of the warm up is to decrease the risk for injury but does warming up really do just that? The plausible answer is yes even though there has not been any scientific evidence that warming up decreases the risk injury.

Reason being, it seems to be very difficult to isolate all the variables.

How A Warm Up Routine Decreases the Risk for Injury

The concept is to increase muscle tissue temperature. If your muscle tissue is less bisque, particularly at the joint capsule, then elastic properties of the muscle tissue are diminished. Also efficiency of neural transmission and proprioception is compromised, which means that your coordination suffers.

By performing a proper warm up routine you enhance the dynamics of the muscle tissue, making it more tolerant to stress (improved flexibility), increasing neuromuscular efficiency, and improving stability. All of these factors suggest that the risk for injury is decreased.

The enhanced dynamics of the muscle tissue are:

• Improved elastic properties – flexibility (range of motion)
• Greater efficiency of neural transmission
• Improved proprioception – enhanced coordination/stability

Because proprioceptors (which are sensors that locate body positioning) are more dynamically enhanced with a warm up, the risk of overextending yourself into a muscle strain due to lack of tissue pliability is diminished, and your ability to maintain stability improves.

Also, improving elastic properties by generating more blood flow to the muscle tissue and hence elevating muscle temperature has a positive effect on being able to generate more power (vs. static stretching).

Therefore, I suggest that improving your ability to maintain stability and increasing the range of motion (ROM) at a joint would reduce your risk for injury.

Recommendations For Your Warm Up