Warm-up can enhance output
The science behind warm-up show how it is not only key in preventing injuries but improves performance on field and at the gym
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Stepping out for dinner at a fine dining restaurant, we’d never go straight for the main course. The starters are a part of the experience. Using the same principle, including a warm-up into any planned physical activity can enhance the entire exercise.
It is time that we start looking at warm-up as more than a fail-safe to avoid injuries. Yes, it does that but there’s so much more to it.
Enhanced performance
“The Performance Benchmark”, a 2010 systematic review by Fradkin et al. that analysed dozens of studies on the benefits of warm-up, concluded that the 15 minutes of warming up actually makes you better at sports.
Reviewing 32 high-quality studies, the report published in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research established that warming up improved performance in 79 per cent of cases.
Injury prevention
The most well-documented benefits of a warm-up is injury prevention. A more recent 2022 review, “Injury Prevention Programs…”, by Owoeye et al. published in the Journal of Physiotherapy, found that basic warm-up practices like balance training reduces the chances of common injuries like ankle sprain and tears by 36 per cent.
Notably, it found supervised programmes (often detailed by a physiotherapist, coach, or a researcher) to be more effective in reducing injuries — by up to 33 per cent — whereas non-supervised programmes show no significant evidence of effectiveness.
How a warm-up helps
A short warm-up is capable of, in simple terms, flipping a switch that helps your body be more ready to take on more strenuous work:
The Bohr effect: Warm-ups lead to a steady rise in body temperature, which in turn results in easier release of oxygen from blood to your muscles, increasing endurance.
Nerve impulse speed: As the core temperature increases, nerve impulses also begin to travel faster — in essence improving coordination, reflexes and reaction time.
Viscosity: The most well-known benefit of a warm-up is the reduced stiffness in muscles and joints, allowing the body to flow more freely.
Quick warm-up moves
- Cat-cow stretch: A yoga movement that alters between two positions — rounding your back upwards in a quadruped position before arching it to increase spinal mobility.
- Bird-dogs: Simultaneously extend one arm and the opposite leg in a quadruped position to activate the core and lower back.
- Glute bridges: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Squeeze your glutes and press through your heels to lift your hips until your body forms a straight line. Hold the position of a few seconds before slowly lowering your hips to “wake up” the posterior before squats or deadlifts.
- Beginners can opt for a slow on-spot jog and some basic body stretches from top to toe before any kind of exercise routine.
It is important to follow a ramp-up approach during each exercise, essentially easing into it with easier, lighter sets.
FIFA recommendations
An evidence-based programme developed by the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre, FIFA 11 is often considered the gold standard for sports warm-up. Its high versatility has helped take it beyond the football/soccer realm.
- Running (8 minutes): Involves slow-speed jogging and active stretching.
- Strength and balance (10 minutes): Involves plank, Nordic curls, single-leg stance, squats and jumping.
- Advanced running (2 minutes): Moderate-to-high speed running integrated with cutting, and bounding movements.
- You can incorporate sports-specific drills like shadow swings and hip rotations in your warm-up routine.
Don’t take running/brisk walk lightly
Even before a regular or normal run, it is essential to get the core temperature and blood flow right, do warm up before that too. Don’t consider it as a warming-up routine
- Progressional start: Always start slow, spending the first 5-10 minutes on a light jog before hitting the target pace. This is often the most underrated warm-up.
- Leg swings: Hold onto a wall and swing your legs. forward/backward and side-to-side to loosen the hip joint.
- Ankle circles: Simple rotations to ready the joint for ground impact.
Cool down
Cooling down is as critical a part of physical activity as a warm-up because it allows the body to safely return to its resting state. Low-intensity cardio, stretching and deep breathing are common techniques that can be undertaken after physical exertion. Cooling down is essential to avoid post-exercise fainting and dizziness and ensure a proper return to resting state.
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