Warm up exercises are very much essential before carrying out a rigorous exercise routine. A proper warm up helps in increasing the blood flow to the muscle. This, in turn, reduces their stiffness to a considerable extent and makes them flexible. Proper warming can go a long way in helping you avoid injuries and improve performance. These exercises enhance the elasticity of muscles, as a result of which there is less risk of pulls and strains. Warm up exercises also prepare the mind for greater focus and higher reviewing power skills. We bring you some helpful warm up exercises to be done before a workout, to make you feel much better.
How To Warm Up Before Working Out
- Undertake skipping for about 5-10 minutes before your begin doing any exercise. It will help your hands, ankles, thighs, wrists, and feet lose their stiffness and become flexible.
- Running and jogging for sometime, before working out, proves to be yet another great warm up exercises. It is ideal for people of all age groups. If you find difficulty in running, simply walk along your lawn for 10-15 minutes, to warm up.
- You need to stretch your joints before going for rigorous exercises. You will need these stretching exercises particularly while doing weight lifting exercises. Take care that you do not stretch your body parts too hard.
- For stretching the neck, you need to hold your shoulder straight and look towards the front. Slowly, move your neck both clockwise and anticlockwise. Move your neck up and down and right and left slowly, for sometime. Take care that you do not overdo the stretching exercise.
- Another easy warm up exercise that you can do is to extend one hand down the center of your back. Do this exercise by pointing your fingers downward. Take the other hand and hold your elbow. Breathe out air slowly, by gently pulling downward on your elbow. Do it as if you want to take the fingers out of your spine.
- You can lie on your back and keep your head on the floor. Now, pull the legs close to your chest. Hold your legs by wrapping the arms around the back side of your knees. Slowly, pull down your legs and exhale. In this process, you can stretch your neck as well, by tilting your chin to your chest.
- You can also do step aerobics as your warm up exercise. Put on some music and do some foot exercises, like knee lifts, simple lunges and stepping in place.