081219 Introduction into the principles of the warm up by Danny M. O’Dell MA., CSCS
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you no doubt have noticed that it is cold outside and a proper warm up is essential to starting an exercise session.
“Workout Preparation” would be a better name for the warm up period however conventional usage has determined the pre-workout phase be labeled ‘the warm up’. So be it, now let’s talk about just what the warm up is supposed to do, and does, if performed as designed.
Simply running in place or pulling on a leg behind the back doesn’t cut it in the workout prep portion of an exercise session and it especially does not prepare the body for any competitive sport at all! The warm up must get the body ready to perform effectively and efficiently at its peak. Doing so requires attention to raising the heart rate, preparing the nervous system, and the muscles and tendons and the joints and ligaments that hold it all together.
Expected and specific outcomes resulting from the warm up
Improved elasticity of and increased contraction capabilities of the muscles, raising the efficiency of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, reduced reaction times via improved neuromuscular connections and transmissions, focused concentration, improved coordination and perception abilities, emotional state normalization particularly before a competitive event takes place. According to Sozanski the warm up regulates the emotional status due to the flow of impulses from the motor and sensory nerve centers to and from the working muscles by calming down an overly excited nervous system. In the case of one who is apathetic (start apathy) to the upcoming event, the warm up stimulates the nervous system.
Just as certain exercises are more appropriate to specific athletes, certain warm-ups are also appropriate to certain individuals. If the athlete is overly excited, their warm up process would involve slow complex exercises requiring precision of movement, but ones that are well known and familiar to the athlete. Just the opposite warm up would be in order for the apathetic athlete. These individuals need simple, easy exercises that are fast paced, requiring fast reactions, coordination and agility while performed in an energetic manner.
The warm up session starts with exercises that are low in intensity, progressing up to the actual work out movements. Starting with high intensity exercises leaves little left in reserve for the main work out. The body quickly uses its stored muscle glycogen and increases the lactate levels in the blood when engaged in high intensity work. When the lactate increases, the free fatty acids decrease, leaving less to help produce energy. You don’t get into your car on a cold morning and go racing out the drive way and onto the expressway at maximum speed. It’s the same for our bodies; warm them up for the tasks ahead.
General principles of arranging warm up exercises normally follow few these guidelines. Start from the distant joints and work toward the center or proximal portion of the body, from one end to the other or from top to bottom or vice versa. The exercises move from one into another so that the end of one move floats directly into the start of the next movement. This is also how a regular strength training session should be set up.
A solid warm-up will take anywhere from twenty to forty minutes for an elite athlete. Many people don’t have the time to take this long so adaptations will have to be made by taking into account the total length of the exercise session. If the intensity of the workout is high then the warm up will, of necessity, be longer. Longer warm up periods would be in order for the explosive sports endeavors such as sprinting and the more difficult technical sessions. Aerobic and endurance exercise periods need much less, as the pre stages of these activities are in and of themselves a warm up.
Repeating the same warm up in successive workouts is not beneficial to the athlete as the goals of each workout are not necessarily the same, thus the warm up should reflect the workout goal. The warm up should prepare the athlete for the workout; bearing this in mind the last minutes of the warm up will be more or less specific to the first training exercises and ultimately blend into the actual workout itself. After the session has started then each different move will be preceded by its own specific but short warm up as the training continues onward.
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