The Importance of Warming up the Right Way During Bodybuilding Workouts

Warming up before you begin your workout is very important.  It is also important to do it the right way.  Here are some tips and ideas for helping you warm up correctly and effectively before your workouts.

The first thing you need to know is why you should warm up at all.  There are many benefits to warming up.  The first benefit is muscle flexibility.  During a warm up your muscles, ligaments, and tendons will actually start to get warm; this warming makes your muscles more pliable, so that you can have greater range of motion.  Greater flexibility in the muscles also helps against muscles tearing, which means less recovery time between workouts.

Another important reason to warm up is that it will actually help you to work out longer.  A good warm up pumps the blood to your muscles preparing them for a great workout by giving them the oxygen and nutrients they need.  A good warm up also helps prevent you from getting injured while working out, by properly preparing your body for a workout.

The next thing you need to know about warming up is how to do it correctly.  Many people think that stretching is the best way to warm up when it fact that is not true.  Stretching is the best way to end a work out, not to start it.  One of the most important things you want to do before working is to get your heart rate up and ready for you work out.  Stretching does not get your heart rate up.  In fact, it relaxes your body and can lower your heart rate.

Also, bear in mind, that even though the goal is to get your heart rate up, you don’t need to go from doing nothing to all out sprinting.  In a pre-workout warm up, you should gradually increase your heart rate.  Some great machines to use for a warm up are treadmills or stationary bikes.  If you cannot use a machine like this, you can just walk around a track or even in place.

Start your warm up at a strolling pace.  The warm up should last between five to fifteen minutes.  If you are in great shape, your warm up can be about five minutes, if you are just starting out or not quite to your physical goals, than you will need to make your warm up longer.

Make sure that you pace yourself out during your warm up so that you gradually pick up the pace and your heart rate over the entire time.  Avoid a warm up where you start out slow for the first minute or two and then sprinting the rest of the time.  Instead, go slow and give your body a chance to adjust to the greater demands of your workout.

Make sure to always plan a good warm up into your scheduled workouts.  This will help you achieve your goals and have a great work out. Also, do not forget about the cool down because it is just as important as the warm up.