Your guide to warming up effec­tively

Why is it called "warming up"?

You feel warm because gentle exercise pumps blood into the peripheral regions of your body and causes the blood vessels to dilate. Your tendons and ligaments become more elastic, and the joints are "lubricated" with synovial fluid. Warming up also enables you to refocus your mind, switch off and concentrate on what you are planning to do.

What is the best way to warm up?

Warm-ups begin with low-intensity exercises that involve the whole body and gradually become more energetic, for example light walking or running on the spot. This is followed by specific exercises for the planned activity, e.g. warm-ups for gymnasts, team sports players, runners or swimmers. Warm-ups can be rounded off with stretching exercises.

How long should you warm up for?

The length of time needed to warm up depends on the type of sport and how fit you are. Generally speaking, you can spend 20 per cent of your planned training session warming up. The same applies to the cooling down period after you have finished your sports session.

Tips for warming up: start your warm-up on the way to your sports facility. If you cycle or stroll to your gym, you can get started on your special technique exercises as soon as you arrive.

Warming up boosts your circulation

Unfortunately, a lot of athletes forget that the human body is not a machine that can accelerate from zero to one hundred in a short time. The body has to be prepared for any kind of athletic activity. This is why individual warm-up exercises should be performed beforehand. These are designed to prevent sports injuries.

The first stage of warming up involves activating your cardiovascular system, ramping up the interaction between your nerves and muscles, increasing your body temperature and accelerating metabolic processes.

In general, the risk of suffering a sports injury decreases if you take instruction from qualified course leaders or coaches at sports clubs. They will usually make sure you are well prepared since appropriate warm-up exercises are generally mandatory.

Warming up protects the muscles

You should spend around 15 minutes on warm-up exercises to get your metabolism going. When warming up before a stretching programme, make sure you activate enough large muscle groups. Light jogging and brisk walking are two ways to do this. Only then will your body reach the temperature required to increase the exchange of gases in your lungs, make your blood flow more quickly and boost oxygen supplies to your muscles.

These physical adaptation processes improve the flexibility of your muscles. How you benefit: your muscles will be able to contract faster and more easily. This significantly reduces the risk of straining or even tearing a muscle. This positive effect can be reinforced by stretching the muscles after they have been warmed up.

Warming up limbers the joints

At this point, careful exercises are performed to limber the joints and make them more flexible internally. The effect: your joints are better able to withstand the strain they are subjected to when doing exercise, and the risk of injury decreases.

General warm-up exercises

Warm-up exercise: running on the spot

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• Start your training programme by running on the spot.
• Make sure your feet land softly and roll off the surface.
• Try to find an even running rhythm.
• Take care to relax your shoulders and swing your arms alternately.
• Start at a slow pace and gradually increase your speed depending on how much effort you are expending so that you can continue for at least three to five minutes without getting out of breath.

Variations

• Heel lift: at intervals, pull your left and right heels alternately towards your buttocks with each step. Your hip joints should remain stretched as much as possible (knees pointing towards the ground).
• Skipping: bend your left and right legs alternately in front of you, bringing your knees to hip height. Keep your upper body upright.

Warm-up exercise: arm circles

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• Circle your shoulders backwards while you are running.
• Increase your shoulder movements by circling one or both arms backwards and widening the radius of each circle.
• Make sure your feet land softly.
• Try to find an even running rhythm.
• Keep your arm movements relaxed and not too vigorous.

Warm-up exercise: shadow boxing

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• While you are running, box with your arms in various directions.
• Make sure your feet land softly.
• Be sure to keep your running rhythm even.
• Tense the muscles in your arms and shoulder girdle while you are boxing.

Stretching after warm-up

Once you have finished the first step, the next step is to stretch the muscles and tendons you will be using most.

Avoid rocking movements while you are stretching

The reason: rocking triggers a protective inverse reflex in the muscles you are stretching and makes them contract. Since the stretch and the inverse reflex neutralise each other, this method is fairly ineffective.

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This gentle method of stretching the muscles and tendons is used after the warm-up exercises. Keep your legs stretched and bend down as far as you can, i.e. until you feel a distinct pull in the backs of your thighs. Hold this position for about ten seconds without rocking. Then relax and repeat the movement several times.

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If you are stretching one side of your body, remember to stretch the other side as well. Repeat the movement several times on each side. After each stretching phase, the stretched muscles must be sufficiently loosened. Since stretching mostly impacts the muscles, this method should be supplemented by large, circling movements of the joints.