Wednesday Wisdom - Why Warm Up?

We are going to share some exercise knowledge with you in the upcoming weeks to explain the "why" behind some basic exercise components.  Often, exercise professionals are great at telling you to do something, but sometimes leave out the "why" or the science behind it.  We are here to help!  We also encourage you to feel free to ask us questions at any time by leaving comment or emailing fit4a6pack@gmail.com. Here's the topic for this week!!

Warming Up
Have you ever taken off for a run or started a workout at full-speed without a proper warm up?  We are all guilty!  Chances are you felt very fatigued, short of breath, and might even have experienced a stabbing pain in your lungs.  You probably felt you were out of shape or the workout was a bad idea.  This is actually your body letting you know it wasn't ready!  Think about it, you went from a resting status where blood is easily distributed to your lungs and muscles and then you take off and increase the demand without letting your heart know you need it to work harder.  It's kind of like warming your car up in cold weather and trying to floor it, it just doesn't work as well until it is warmed up!

The purpose of a proper warm up is to prepare the body for exercise.  Specifically, you are priming your cardiovascular system for increased cardiac output, your metabolic system for energy production and enhanced oxygen delivery, and your musculoskeletal system becomes more elastic and nerve conduction is improved thus reducing your risk for injuries.  In addition, warming up is very important for anyone with heart disease and/or heart abnormalities as it helps prevent irregular heart beats.

Warming up can be as simple as performing the activity that you are preparing for at a slower pace or doing 5-10 minutes of dynamic activity (this is what we put in our workouts for you!).  Skipping it can really hurt your performance during the workout so make sure you take the time (5-10 minutes) to help enhance your workout!!