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We’ve all heard it – from our elementary school soccer coach to our workout buddies – "You’ve gotta warm up!" But while everyone generally agrees warming up is important, the science behind it isn’t always clear.
Most people understand warming up helps reduce injury risk and can improve performance. But how does it actually work? And what’s the best way to warm up for optimal results?
Take a look around before a race, and you’ll see a wide variety of warm-up routines. Some runners are vigorously swinging their legs like they’re about to join Cirque du Soleil, some are jogging casually, and others are doing short sprints. While any kind of warm-up is probably better than nothing, not all of these approaches are equally effective.
Let’s dive into the science and best practices for warming up so you can get the most out of your workouts.
How Warming Up Works
1. Speed and Force of Muscle Contractions
When you warm up, your muscles heat up, which boosts their ability to contract faster and with more force. This is thanks to the increased enzyme activity that comes with higher temperatures – just don’t overdo it, as too much heat can actually backfire and slow your muscles down.
2. Blood Vessel Dilation
At rest, many of the small blood vessels supplying our muscles are constricted. Warming up opens these vessels, improving blood flow and delivering essential oxygen and nutrients to power your workout.
3. Faster Nerve Conduction
Warm muscles transmit nerve signals more quickly, which means your body can move more efficiently and respond faster – especially when you’re doing complex movements.
Different Warm-Up Techniques
There are three main warm-up techniques, each with a role to play. Combined, they prepare your body best for exercise.
Passive Warm-Up: Uses external sources (like a warm environment or heat packs) to raise your body temperature.
General Warm-Up: Involves basic, non-specific movements like jogging or jumping jacks to get your blood flowing.
Specific Warm-Up: Focuses on the muscles you’ll be using for your workout, priming them for the specific actions they’ll be performing.
Among these, the specific warm-up has the most significant effect on performance since it directly targets the muscles you’ll rely on during the activity.
The Role of Stretching
Stretching is often paired with warming up, but its impact on performance is still up for debate. While stretching helps prevent injuries by improving flexibility and range of motion, it doesn’t necessarily boost performance.
In fact, research suggests that stretching alone doesn’t reduce injury rates as much as a full warm-up. For optimal performance, you’ll want to combine stretching with a warm-up, as warming up muscles beforehand reduces the risk of stretching-related injuries.
Effective Warm-Up Protocol
The goal is to hit that “sweet spot” where your muscles are warm and primed without feeling fatigued. The more conditioned you are, the longer your warm-up may need to be.
For anaerobic activities (like sprinting), research suggests that a 15-minute warm-up at around 65% of your VO2 max is ideal. But watch out – warm-ups longer than 20 minutes can deplete energy reserves and may even hurt performance.
Equally important is the timing between your warm-up and your workout. To keep the benefits of a warm-up, you’ll want to start exercising within 15 minutes of finishing your warm-up; after that, your muscles start to cool down.
Should You Cool Down?
While warming up is well-supported by science, the benefits of cooling down are less clear. Many physiologists suggest that the cool-down is more tradition than necessity, with little to no evidence that it reduces muscle soreness (DOMS).
The one solid benefit? Cooling down after intense exercise, especially running, can help prevent blood pooling in the legs, which can lead to dizziness. For most activities, though, a cool-down is less crucial than warming up.
Tailoring Your Warm-Up to the Event
Generally, the shorter and more intense an event, the more beneficial a warm-up will be. For example, warming up is especially important for a 5K race but may be less necessary for a marathon, where you’ll have time to ease into your pace as you go.
No matter your workout, starting with a well-rounded warm-up gets your body ready to perform at its best. So next time, take those extra minutes to warm up – your muscles will thank you!
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