Sport

The best warm-up exercises

Warm-up exercises are essential for a workout to be safe and effective at the same time. Be sure to check out these warm-up exercises.

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2021

Dominic Lyon

You need about 4 min. to read this post

The warm-up is an integral part of every workout. It ensures that your body is prepared for physical exertion and that your muscles are properly stretched. A good warm-up guarantees that you won’t pull a muscle during your workout – as long as your workout is well thought out. Be sure to check out how to perform the perfect warm-up.

Your warm-up should combine some aerobic exercise and stretching. This will increase your starting heart rate, but also prepare your muscles for sudden contraction and relaxation.

Dynamic stretching exercises

During dynamic stretching, your muscles not only get stretched a lot, but they also toughen up for the effort ahead of them. It should involve many parts of our body and cannot be omitted during the warm-up.

Back and leg muscle stretching

Dynamic bends will stretch the muscles of your legs and back at the same time. Perform dynamic bends, taking care not to strain your lumbar region. First, bend forward so that your head hangs between your legs and your hands try to touch the ground. Then, smoothly move to your left leg, and then to your right leg. During the incline, try to dynamically deepen it. Perform the stretch in a reasonable manner – your back should be slightly rounded. You should not feel any pain during the stretch, only the feeling of stretching along the entire length of your spine.

Hand Stretching

Interlace your hands and straighten your arms at the elbows. Then, lift your hands to the height of your chest and try to stretch them as much as possible. During this stretch, you will feel a pulling of the muscles from your shoulders to your forearms. Rhythmically try to pull your hands and return to less tense muscles.

Another way to stretch your arms is to draw your straight arm to your chest. Position it so that it is diagonally across your torso. Then hold it against your chest with your other hand and dynamically pull it tighter to your chest. Stretch the muscles of your other hand in the same way.

Aerobic exercises

You should also do aerobic exercises during the warm-up. One of them is jumping once on one leg and then on the other. Jump up while bringing the leg bent at the knee to your chest. Land on one leg and dynamically change it to the other, lifting the first leg to the chest.

A very good part of the warm-up are also jumping jacks. When doing jumping jacks, remember that the jumps should not be high – what matters is the dynamics of the movement and spreading the arms and legs wide, so that all the muscles of the limbs are worked.

Don’t forget to warm up your hips – using them, perform so called figure eights, as well as transfer your body weight from one leg to another, at the same time pushing your hip out to the side. This element of the warm-up will allow you to prepare your body for sit-ups or squats.

To warm up the muscles of the legs, it is very helpful to quickly jog, as well as rises on tiptoe. While performing them, it is good to hold the silhouette up a little bit so that the calf muscles work harder and get used to working harder during the workout. Many people also use extra weight in the form of dumbbells to make the warm-up more effective.

When warming up, it is also a good idea to use available machines such as a stationary bike or a treadmill. However, an orbiter will have the most comprehensive effect, making you work both your leg and arm muscles. You can put extra weight on it, so you’ll already burn calories while doing your warm-up.

Some people also use a spinning wheel to massage their muscles before a workout, but it’s a much better idea to get them moving. Leave the massage for after your workout.

Main photo: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

Up Next

What is a pre-workout?

Don't Miss

Chest exercises for men. Best suggestions

Dominic Lyon

Click to comment

Sport

Essential IPS for Beginners at the Gym: Unleash Your Strength with the Right Stretching Equipment

Entering a gym for the first time can be an overwhelming experience, especially when faced with an array of unfamiliar equipment.

Published

6 months ago

June 9, 2023

Dominic Lyon

Entering a gym for the first time can be an overwhelming experience, especially when faced with an array of unfamiliar equipment. As a beginner, it’s crucial to start your fitness journey on the right foot by focusing on building a solid foundation of strength and flexibility. In this guide, we will explore the essential IPS (Integrated Performance System) for beginners at the gym, with a specific emphasis on stretching equipment. By incorporating the right equipment and techniques into your workout routine, you can enhance your performance, prevent injuries, and achieve your fitness goals more effectively.

(more…)

Sport

SARMs: A Comprehensive Guide for Fitness Enthusiasts

We all want to achieve our fitness goals and have a perfectly sculpted body.

Published

8 months ago

April 12, 2023

Dominic Lyon

We all want to achieve our fitness goals and have a perfectly sculpted body. However, achieving those goals can be difficult, and many people turn to supplements to help them achieve their goals. SARMs are one such supplement that has grown in popularity in recent years.

(more…)

Sport

Best ways to get sore muscles

Sourdough is a consequence of micro-damage to muscle fibers that can occur as a result of training. But what to do when pain impedes daily functioning? Read in our material!

Published

12 months ago

December 1, 2022

Dominic Lyon

Workouts are a great way to strengthen your body and maintain proper muscle tone. However, there are times when after a workout, especially an intense one, you feel discomfort, sometimes severe enough that you can’t lift yourself out of bed or climb the stairs. What to do then? How can you help yourself? Learn proven ways to treat post-workout muscle soreness!

Food

Relieve the symptoms of DOMS, or delayed post-workout muscle soreness, with foods rich in antioxidants, first of all watermelon, which contains citrulline. This non-protein amino acid helps reduce soreness and accelerate muscle recovery. Pineapples, ginger rhizome and cherry juice also have strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Curcumin and trance

The curcumin contained in the perennial herb has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. It also has strong antioxidant properties. Curcumin promotes faster muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. Analogous effects are shown by Omega-3 fats and cod liver oil.

Milk proteins

In 2017, a study was conducted that proved that milk-based protein nutrients remove pain caused by micro-damage to muscles and connective tissue, including from overly intense training. Protein nutrients in concentrate or isolate form contain 40 to as much as 90% milk proteins. Milk proteins consumed in the form of nutrients not only reduce DOMS symptoms, but also prevent them.

Warm baths and Epsom salt

You can also prevent the feeling of discomfort by providing warmth to your muscles immediately after your workout. You can apply a towel wetted in warm water to your body, use a thermos, or even better: indulge in a warming bath. If you opt for a bathtub, add a little Epsom salt to your bath, which relieves inflammation and pain caused by too much training. Such a bath will not only relieve pain, but also affect your mood.

Impact of cold

It turns out that cold compresses are equally helpful in removing post-workout muscle soreness. Cold compresses eliminate swelling and calm the nervous system. Use bags of ice or frozen products. However, avoid direct contact of ice with the skin. If your body is up to it, soak in a tub of cold water.

Massages

Self-massage is also good for soreness, reducing muscle pain and improving flexibility. All you need to do is put a roller under the sore area and perform longitudinal rolling. Or you can always use the services of a massage therapist to loosen up sore areas and get them working again. You will achieve the greatest effectiveness if you undergo a massage no later than two days after training.

Repeat workouts

Muscle soreness should not be a reason not to continue exercising. DOMS is a normal bodily response to stress that your body needs to adapt to. If you don’t abandon exercise and keep up the intensity, you can be sure that once the pains subside, they won’t return. However, if they are so severe that you can’t exercise as before, slow down a bit, reduce the load, or for 2-3 days do exercises aimed at developing other muscle parts.

Cooldown

After a workout, the body needs relaxation and relaxation exercises to even out breathing and calm the heart rate. Calm exercise after a workout will give your muscles an uninterrupted blood supply to remove lactic acid and prevent sourness. Instead of exercising, you can go for a walk or jog on a treadmill for 10 minutes at a brisk pace.

main photo: unsplash.com/Karsten Winegeart