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Warm-ups

The warm-up should raise heart rate and body temperature gradually by involving the muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular systems. The most appropriate warm-up uses the target muscle groups in activities that are active and dynamic in nature.

Effective warm-ups use the muscles that will be used in the main physical activity. Before the stretching portion of the warm-up, a five to ten minute cardiovascular activity should be performed. Example: fast walk or light to moderate jog.

Static stretching can be used as a warm-up activity if it is mixed into a dynamic stretching warm-up series. See 2.02 Types of Flexibility Stretches.

Inappropriate Warm-ups

The most inappropriate warm-up activity is not doing any warm-up before participating in an activity. Warmups are crucial because they get your muscles ready for activity. It is not appropriate to stretch cold muscles.

Static stretching is an inappropriate warm-up if it is the only exercise used in the warm-up. Without warming up, you not only risk injury but you also get less from your workout.

Remember you must move to warm up muscles before stretching.

Cardio Warm-ups

Examples of good cardio warm-ups are:

  • Walking
  • Jogging
  • Jumping rope
  • Cycling
  • Swimming
  • Skipping
  • Easy Aerobics
  • Jumping Jacks
  • Mountain Climbers

The purpose of the cardio portion of a warm-up is to:

  • Increase active muscle blood flow
  • Increase blood flow to the heart
  • Raise body temperature
  • Loosen joints
  • Stretch muscles
  • May reduce the risk of muscular injury and muscle soreness.
  • Facilitate temperature regulation by causing earlier sweating.
  • Practice movement for your specific sport or exercise.

Physical Activity

You are learning about warm-up activities. We will focus on choosing proper exercises for warm-up activities. Your physical activity will be jumping rope and jogging. Your goal is to understand that there are numerous warm-up activities that you can choose from to prepare your body for a workout. Through these activities, you will learn:

  • How to choose a good warm-up activity.
  • Different jump rope skills.
  • How you feel after you complete 45 minutes of exercise.
  • To assess if you achieved your heart rate zone after each workout.

Choosing Warm-up Activities

The focus is choosing appropriate warm-up activities and using those activities before working out. We have been using walking and jogging as our warm-up before stretching. We can also jump rope.

It is time to add variety to our warm-up activities. Follow these rules to choose an appropriate warm-up activity.

  1. The activity must have little to no equipment.
  2. The activity can be done alone or involve others.
  3. The activity must warm up the muscles in the core muscle groups needed for the workout.
  4. The activity is usually 5-15 minutes in length.