Why Walking on Your Treadmill for Your Warmup May Not Be Sufficient
What is the most important part of your workout? You guessed right, it’s the warm-up. Warming up before working out will
- reduce your risk of injury
- gradually increase blood flow to your major muscle groups
- help lubricate your joints (you don’t want to start your workouts stiff)
- provide an opportunity to get yourself mentally ready for your workout
Depending on your activity, doing three to five minutes on a treadmill or elliptical as your warmup may not be enough to properly engage the joints and muscle groups you will be using during your workout. To achieve a full-body warm-up that will properly prepare you for your workout, consider the following:
Move your joints through their full range of motion. Performing shoulder rolls is a good example. Your rolls may start off small, but as you get warmer in your joints you should try to gradually increase your range of motion by increasing the size of your rolls.
Perform dynamic movements/stretching. This is a good way to increase your core body temperature and prepare your body for the movements ahead. For example, bringing your knees to your chest while you’re in a standing position is a good way to prepare your body for more high impact movements like high knees.
Practice movement patterns that you will do in your workout. In our workouts, we will likely do exercises that require us to move forward, backward, laterally as well as rotate, flex, extend, and much more. Therefore, include exercises in your warm-up that involve different planes of motion and movement patterns to warm-up your body in the manner you will move during your workout.
Follow the tips above to achieve a full-body warm-up to reduce your risk of injury and to help maximize your workouts.
