Warming up is the best way to insure that you minimize injuries during workouts or sporting events. I used to run track & field in high school and college and it was the first thing we did before really getting into the thick of practice. All athletes are required by their coaches to do a warm up routine, but they aren’t the only ones. Singers do warm up exercises for their voices and musicians do warm up exercises with their instruments making sure both are finely tuned. Actors even do warm ups before they begin their scene.
Warming up is part of the fitness process but the concept is used widely. Here are a few warm ups I like that are low impact and get the blood flowing properly to the muscles:
- 5 minute walk/jog
- I usually walk/jog around my neighborhood, or I pick a specific destination if I’m planning to do a light workout at home later. This gets the whole body warmed up without having to add more exercises.
- High-knees
- Doing high-knees opens up the hips and warms up the lower half of your body. There is two ways to do high knees: 1) you pull your knee to your chest with your hands alternating legs. 2) while holding your hands straight in front of you, you raise each knee to your hands rapidly.
- Toe touches, then touch the sky
- Arm circles
- Lunges
BME Healthy Choices 