How to Warm Up Joints Before Exercising
Most people who exercise appreciate the value of doing some basic warming up exercises before they begin their exercise program. However, what is often overlooked is the fact that you should warm up all your joints and body parts before exercising, and not just the areas of your body that you are targeting that day. When you do a "full body" warmup you not only warm up the joints and areas you are concentrating on, but also your other body parts that help stabilize you during your exercise program. This becomes important, as it is easy to injure these "secondary" muscles and joints as you focus on your primary areas. Here are tips for warming up your joints before exercising.
Things You'll Need
- A basic understanding of how to slowly warm up your body and joints before exercising
- A review of your workout plan and warmups, if possible, with a certified fitness trainer
- Simple-to-follow guidelines for general warmups and good health before beginning your regular exercise routine
Instructions
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"Lubricate" your joints by slowly moving them in their physiological positioning. This allows the fluids in the joints to coat the structures and provide some much-needed protection before lifting weights or doing the pounding involved with most cardio programs.
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Warm up your joints in an easy, relaxed fashion. There isn't any real benefit and a potential for actual harm if you hyperextend or "push" your joints through a warmup period. This is the time for you and your body to work together to improve your health and exercise program.
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Gently stretch your large muscle groups such as your legs, arms, chest and back. Again, these stretches not only loosen up your muscles, but also help release various chemicals and neurotransmitters throughout your body that can help improve your performance and enhance your workout. Also, they may help prevent injury!
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Start your exercise routine with a light weight or jog to continue the warmup before stepping up your program to its usual intensity. As a certified personal trainer and primary care provider I usually instruct my clients to use the first one or two sets of exercises as additional warming up time, and not to count it as part of their fitness routine. This actually can help you build more muscle and improve your fitness level.
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Tips & Warnings
Never skip warming up before exercising. It may cost you dearly by inducing an injury and keeping you out of your "game" for some time.
Always warm up slowly and gently, but also pay attention to what your body is saying to you. Do not ignore aches, pains and twinges. They are sending you some sort of message! Pay attention and never exercise through pain that is limiting or intolerable.
It is highly recommended that you check with your healthcare provider before beginning any exercise program. Also, developing a warmup program with a certified fitness trainer is money well spent, since it will likely help you prevent injuries and enhance your fitness!
