Fitness trainers, articles in sports magazines, and fitness websites are constantly talking about the importance of doing a warm-up or warm-up before exercising. This applies to any activity: both exercise on simulators and stretching. Warming up allows you to prepare your muscles for the upcoming stress and protect them from injury.
Why warm up your muscles before stretching?
During deep stretching, muscle fibers are subjected to great stress. Unlike strength or any other exercise, this load does not develop strength or endurance, but muscle flexibility. But the muscle fibers also receive micro-injuries that heal during the rest period, thereby improving flexibility. In addition, stretching affects the tendons and ligaments, which also gradually become more flexible.
Stretching is a very traumatic activity, an accidental awkward movement, too sharp an impulse, improper posture can seriously damage a muscle or stretch a ligament. Therefore, it is recommended to exercise carefully, increasing the load very slowly. But the main thing is that you need to do a warm-up before each lesson, thus preparing the muscles for stretching. If the muscles of the tendons and ligaments are slightly stressed before stretching, this prepares the body: blood circulation will improve, the muscles will receive additional blood supply and will be provided with oxygen, thereby reducing the risk of injury.
You do not need to strain strongly during the warm-up, the task of the warm-up is to relieve tension, remove stiffness in the muscles, since relaxed muscles stretch better. Also, during warm-up, the temperature of the muscle fibers rises, which also contributes to relaxation. The body physiologically adjusts itself to active training, the necessary substances and hormones for energy production begin to be produced. In addition, this is psychological preparation - it is always more difficult to start with serious exercises, and a light warm-up will allow you to get involved in the process.
How to warm up your muscles before stretching?
You need to start the warm-up with the simplest exercises: head turns, rotational movements of the shoulders and arms. Build up the speed gradually, increase the intensity in small steps. Break the warm-up into several stages, starting with the upper body and ending with the lower one.
As a warm-up before stretching, you can use not only a set of simple exercises, but also a little cardio training - jogging, exercise on a stationary bike or a sports game. It is important to start at an extremely low intensity, for example, start running with a brisk walk, gradually increasing the pace.
The warm-up should last 5-7 minutes. If you spend more time on it, your muscles can get tired and tense, which is not conducive to good stretching. Pay more attention to the muscles you are about to stretch.
