Most novice or amateur athletes never pay much attention to the warm-up, and in fact it is necessary for the necessary warm-up of all important muscles. During the warm-up, it happens in the muscles, due to which the temperature of a certain part of the body rises and rises.
When warming up, the blood is enriched with oxygen, the heartbeat accelerates. And the body creates the necessary supply of oxygen, which allows you to limit your muscles from various injuries during training. To put it simply, thanks to the warm-up, you will warm up your body, and after the workout you will not feel the unpleasant symptoms of muscle pain.
A good warm-up before training will protect the body from overload and prepare it for training at an intense pace. Warming up will reduce the risk of injury, sprains, dislocations and fractures by warming up your body. Of course, it will not add muscle mass to you, but it can protect you from injury during exercise.
There are a number of exercises to do during a warm-up, such as exercise bikes, treadmills, these warm-ups will increase blood pressure and warm up your muscles. For people involved in bodybuilding (body building), exercises with dumbbells are a popular warm-up and, often in this way, they knead all parts of the body in turn. There is also a special warm-up before running.
Before starting the exercise, you should perform a warm-up approach for a specific muscle, this is done so that the muscle gets used to the given movement.
The more stress you put on your body, the more important the exercises during the warm-up become.
The quality is also affected by the time at which you are engaged. For example, in the morning your body is very sluggish and you will have to take much longer before you achieve a result than if you work out in the evening.
Injuries in bodybuilders happen, as a rule, for two reasons, this is an insufficient warm-up and the wrong technique for performing the exercise.
In addition, age has a huge impact on the quality of training, the older a person is, the better he should ensure that his body is as protected from injuries as possible. After all, what young people get away with can have a detrimental effect on the body of older comrades.
Basic warm-up exercises
Base stance straight, arms at your sides, feet shoulder-width apart, chin up, muscles and joints relaxed. Remember this foundation, without it it will be very difficult to start. Have you learned? Now we turn to the process of warming up each individual muscle complex. Low start, let's go.
Stretching the muscles of the neck
You need to perform head turns to the right and left several times, while trying to prolong this turn as long as possible.
Head tilts. While in the main stance, gently tilt your head forward and return it to its original position. There is no need to shrug your shoulders.
We stretch the muscles of the shoulder girdle and the muscles of the hands
While in the main stance, rotate your shoulders clockwise, and then vice versa. We repeat this exercise several times.
Being in the main stance, we begin to shrug our shoulders, inhaling and exhaling air sharply as high as possible, lowering our shoulders just as sharply.
Make a few swings with your hands. Starting with the arms above the head and moving them down to the sides and crossing under the chest.
We stretch the muscles of the chest and back
Exercises to raise your arms forward from the main stance. Take a deep breath, raise your arms above your head, exhale, returning your hands to their original position.
Connect your hands behind your back. Inhale, lifting them as high as you can and return to the starting position without leaning forward.
Having taken the main stance, put your hands in front of you and begin to spread them apart, bringing your shoulder blades together and inhaling, return them to their original position as you exhale.
We stretch the muscles of the torso
Twisting exercise. Standing straight, arms to the sides, legs again shoulder-width apart, turns are made with the body, while maintaining the immobility of the pelvis.
We also do twisting, only by bending our elbows. Take the left shoulder with the fingers of the left hand, and the right shoulder with the fingers of the right hand. And also rotate the torso from side to side.
Torso rotation. Put your hands on your hips. And keeping the pelvis motionless, lean forward, then returning to the starting position, then do the same, but leaning to the left, right and back.
With your feet wide apart, bend your knees and lean forward so that your torso is parallel to the floor. Connect the hands in a lock above the head. And alternately touch the left elbow to the right knee, and the right elbow to the left knee.
We stretch the muscles of the lower back
Leaning forward. Standing in the main stance, press your chin to your chest and begin to bend as low as possible. Further, without changing the stance, turn the body to the left, also pressing the chin and bending down, straighten up, and repeat this, already turning to the right.
Exercises for the usual warm-up of the muscles of the torso are ideal for warming up the lower back.
Stretching leg muscles
With your left hand on your waist, lift your left leg as high as you can. After that, bend this leg at the knee and straighten it. Do this several times, and repeat the same exercise, but with the right foot.
Focus on the floor on both hands and the left leg, while lifting the right and bending at the knee. Begin to bend and unbend your left leg while keeping it flat on the floor. Repeat this exercise several times and change the position of the legs.
Stretching the pelvic muscles
Standing and balancing with your right hand, swing your left foot forward, then back, then change position and do the exercise again.
Taking a wide stance. Hands on the belt, feet parallel to each other. Do deep lunges in different directions alternately, without taking your legs off the floor and without tilting your torso forward.
Stretching the ankle joint
Holding on to something to create balance, lift your left and then your right leg to rotate your feet first in one and then in another position. Do this exercise several times with different legs.
We stretch the calf muscles
Keeping balance, rise on the toes of both feet. And repeat, this exercise with the toes turned out and with the toes facing in.
It is also worth remembering that when moving to heavy weight in your workout, you need to perform an exercise with a lighter weight for each part of your body in order to prepare it for a large load.
That's all, now you know how to properly do a warm-up before training. For the assimilation of the material, you can save the link to this article and refer to it if necessary. On this we will complete our training, come again, another time other useful information for athletes will be considered.
The volume of caviar often increases rather reluctantly. However, this is not a consequence of the stubbornness or inflexibility of the musculature itself, but rather a reaction to improper training, a violation of exercise technique, or poor posture. In fact, calves are one of those groups that are very easy to pump up even at home, if you remove everything that prevents them from growing.
Why don't eggs grow?
The muscles of the lower legs, like the deep muscles of the back, practically do not rest during the day, as they are forced to bear the weight of the body and balance in interaction, maintaining balance and stabilizing the joints when walking. This means that it is focused on a “dry”, hardy development option and actively uses the shock-absorbing capabilities of the tendons (in particular, the Achilles tendon, whose role in the development of the calf muscle will be discussed separately).
In violation of posture, hyperextension (or insufficient flexion) of the joints, a redistribution of motor roles occurs. Lumbar lordosis almost always leads to underdevelopment, and weak hamstrings and to calf hypertrophy.
The triceps of the lower leg (the outer muscles of the calf) consists of two muscles connected by a common (Achilles) tendon. This upper bifascicular gastrocnemius muscle and the deep one below them soleus. Even lower lie the muscles that provide mobility of the ankle and fingers. In addition, there are knee and shin stabilizers.
If some part of the muscles is “turned off from the process”, it weakens, atrophies, and others take over its function. Triceps is involved in knee flexion and foot extension, fixing the knee in a bent position. The soleus muscle is almost always long, but the outer bundles can have either long or short bellies (then they are called "short caviar").
A short calf can be brought to an aesthetically acceptable state only due to the hypertrophy of the underlying muscles, which “raise” it. The function of the gastrocnemius muscle can be partially intercepted by the tendon, biceps, and with a habitually overextended or bent knee, an overdeveloped quadriceps (in this case, it relaxes more, and according to the rule of “synchronous antagonist muscle pulls”, the leg is bent with less calf force).
Warm up before calf workout
To increase blood flow, warm up the joints and reduce trauma, a warm-up is necessary. It should not be neglected, even if the lower leg does not swing on a separate day, but after other exercises.
Ideally, the warm-up is done lying down (synchronously on both legs) and standing (you will have to work out the joints in turn: stand on one leg, stretching the second). Warm-up sitting is undesirable. Movements are performed 4-5 times.
- squeeze and unclench, spread your toes;
- stretch the toes away from you, then pull the socks towards you, and the heel away from you;
- move your feet left and right;
- simultaneously rotate both feet: first to the left, then to the right, then multidirectional rotation
- bend and unbend the knees;
- sitting, take the leg by the shin, shake the relaxed foot. Repeat for the second leg;
- sitting, take the leg above the knee, shake the relaxed shin. Repeat for the second leg;
- standing: crouching a little, perform rotational movements with the knees - first to the right, then to the left;
- standing, hands on hips, swing on the hip joints, then rotate the pelvis so that the torso is motionless, and the pelvis writes out a horizontal "eight";
- standing, alternately, holding on to a support, shake each leg, completely relaxing it;
How to build calves (calf exercises)
To pump up calves at home for a workout, you need to do 2 exercises from the following. The training of the lower leg, like other muscles, consists in micro-injury with subsequent restoration of the fibers.
- Raising on toes.
- Stand up, holding the support with your hand, rise on the toes of both legs. The hand only insures.
- The feet are parallel, between them 15-20 cm, the knees are slightly bent and fixed, directed strictly forward.
- The movement is slow, with maximum tension of the calf, extensors and flexors of the fingers.
- The knee is motionless. At the top of the ascent, pause, then move down. The heel does not drop to the floor.
- All repetitions should be performed as one long, stringy movement.
Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions, then 1 set with socks out and 1 set with socks inside (working out different beams). Then perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions for each leg (with socks straight, in and out), the second leg is relaxed or bent. If one leg is weaker, then they are guided by the number of its failures.
To close the gap between the legs, it is recommended to focus on performing in the “socks out” position. In this position, the inner part sways - note to aesthetes and girls for the correct increase in calves. This will help to reduce or eliminate this disadvantage. Just don't forget to exercise.
- Raising on toes, standing on a dais.
The exercise is similar to the previous one, but the flexion amplitude is increased.
- Performed on a step 10-15 cm high. Mandatory hand insurance.
- They stand on the edge of the support with their fingers (if they are still weak, then with the ball of the foot).
- Unbending the ankle, rise on the fingers, linger at the top point, strain the calf as much as possible.
- Going down, stretch your heels to the floor, stretching your muscles as much as possible.
Do 4 sets of 10 reps, then 3 sets for each leg to failure.
- Donkey calf exercise with a partner.
- Stand up, leaning forward and resting your hands on the bench. The back is straight, almost horizontal, fixed motionless.
- On the lower back (not on the waist!) The partner sits astride.
The principle of movement is similar (when the foot is extended and raised on the toes, the ankle and metatarsal joints work, the knee is slightly bent and motionless), the only difference is that the double load (your own weight and the weight of the partner sitting on the lower back) falls simultaneously on both legs. Potentially traumatic for the lower back. 
- Lifting on toes on one leg with weights (weight or dumbbell in hand).
It is performed similarly to exercises 2 and 3. First, they learn to do it with a short amplitude, then on a step. Weights in the left hand when lifting on the left leg, the right leg is bent at the knee, and the right hand insures, holding on to the support.
You can further complicate the exercise by putting weights on your legs. It is performed very slowly, with maximum tension and relaxation of the calf bellies at the extreme points of the movement, otherwise the tendon is too stretched, this can shorten the bellies.
Calves can be pumped to failure only if the movement is performed slowly. Chasing the number of repetitions, especially fast ones, is pointless, the caviar from this will only dry out, transferring the load to the tendons. Calves rarely hurt after a workout, they recover quickly, like all muscles with relatively short bellies.
Even if there is pain, the usual daily exercise when walking is enough to warm up the muscle. You can train with weak pains, with strong ones it is better to give rest.
Walking and shoes affect the calves!
Few people know that the influence of posture and gait on the development of the lower leg is much stronger than the effect of training. Flat feet, if not taken into account and not compensated, also makes it difficult to bring the volume of the lower leg in line with the BB standard (the volumes of the neck, biceps and calves should be equal or close in value). You can pump up calves without simulators simply by choosing the right shoes and adjusting your gait.
The habit of placing a half-bent leg on the heel leads to underdevelopment of the calf. If the foot is placed on the toe, the calf will be voluminous even without training. This is explained by the fact that the size of the calf depends not only on the triceps, but also on the muscles that ensure the mobility of the fingers. If the fingers do not take an active part in walking, their flexors and extensors are underdeveloped. Naturally, their participation in the increase in volume is negligible.
Flat feet or shoes that exclude the work of the fingers and ankle, forcing you to walk in such a way that the leg falls on the heel, and then without rolling is placed on the entire surface, also lead to underdevelopment of the calf.
How to strengthen the lower leg without training or enhance the effect of training
Compliance with these rules in itself leads to the beginning of the growth of lagging caviar - make it a habit.
- The gait must be correct. The step is wide, the foot is placed on the toe, then with a roll it falls on the heel. You need to walk more, at least 5-6 km per day, preferably at an interval pace.
- Shoes should allow the toes to move in it, actively participating in walking.
- If during the day there is an opportunity, you should rock from heel to toe or stand on your toes.
- Walk barefoot more often.
- The best run is a slow barefoot run on a grassy lawn, sand, or forest dirt track. The foot should be placed on the fingers and the outer part of the foot with a roll. Running in sneakers has almost no effect on the development of the calf muscles.
- Prevention of flat feet is relevant at any age, since with age it can occur in any person. Training from this complex removes the risk of flat feet, and always leads to calf growth.
- Special workouts are performed on the same day as the training of the biceps and quadriceps of the thigh, but after them, or the next day - so that large tired muscles do not intercept the load from the periphery.
- Training should take into account the habit of the Achilles tendon to unload the triceps. Therefore, the movements are slow, with complete control, with static at the highest point of tension or stretch. You can not allow a springy effect when the abdomen of the muscles does not work.
- A set of exercises for the lower leg must necessarily include exercises that involve the toes.
- Sedentary work mechanically injures the biceps of the thigh and worsens the blood supply to the triceps of the lower leg (popliteal blood vessels are pinched). Therefore, it is very important to get up and stretch your legs (a farmer's walk or climbing stairs with support on your toes and active ankle extension are ideal).
- Be sure to follow the sleep schedule: if you sleep less than 8 hours, and the next day after training you spend on your feet or sit motionless all day on the priest, you can not hope for hypertrophy.
- Massage relieves stress by reducing Massage for promoting mental and physical health in typically developing infants under the age of six months. levels of adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol.
- Helps fight pain by reducing Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Treatment Review activation of pain receptors in muscles.
- Helps Massage therapy attenuates inflammatory signaling after exercise-induced muscle damage. fight inflammation by reducing the amount of cytokines.
- Speeds up The beneficial effects of massage therapy for insomnia in postmenopausal women☆ blood flow in muscles and tissues, improves lymph outflow.
When not to do a foot massage
Avoid massage if you have:
- Skin diseases.
- Skin injuries: wounds, burns, frostbite.
- Acute inflammatory process.
- Thrombosis.
- Phlebeurysm.
- Tendency to bleed.
How to choose a massage cream or oil
There are several classic options: creams "Alice", "Nega", "Ballet". They have been used for a very long time, they are cheap, do not cause and provide a good glide of the hands over the skin. Johnson's Baby Colorless Oil is also suitable. It is used even for babies, which means that it does not cause allergies or irritation.
If you prefer natural oils, choose ones that don't clog your pores too much:
- hemp;
- argans;
- almond;
- avocado;
- jojoba;
- grape seeds.
You can also add fragrant ones to them: for 10 grams of base oil, 4 drops of essential oil.
How to give a foot massage to yourself or another person
Lifehacker has collected classical massage techniques: it relaxes muscles well and improves blood circulation.
Some movements will be difficult to use for self-massage - just skip them and do what is comfortable to do.
Usually massage therapists spend 30-60 seconds on each movement. But you can adjust the time, focusing on the sensations.
warm up
For about a minute, stroke the leg from the calf to the thigh, grabbing the gluteal muscles, and back.
Foot massage
Rub the instep of the foot with your thumb from toe to heel.
Make circular motions with both hands.
Massage of thighs and buttocks
Rub the thigh with the palm of your hand in a circular motion from the knee to the buttock.
Make a "nettle": slide your hands up and down alternately.
When your foot is warm, try tapping it with the edge of your hand or with your palm gathered in a boat.
Finish the massage with the stroke you started with.
In this collection - videos from which the movements are taken. You can simply copy the work of massage therapists in their entirety.
How to do self-massage of the legs with balls and rollers
Massage with a tennis ball or special massage rollers and balls provides a deep effect on the muscles and connective tissue, warms up and relaxes clogged muscles.
Massage rollers can be bought at a sports store or ordered from AliExpress. There you can also find massage balls, single or double, or just buy tennis balls.
Remember a few rules for self-massage using massage rollers and balls:
- Roll your body slowly.
- Don't roll your joints.
- Spend at least two minutes on each muscle group.
- If you feel pain and severe discomfort, reduce the pressure. In addition, if pain is felt at a particular point, you can not act on it directly, but roll out nearby areas.
Massage of the front side of the thigh (quadriceps)
Put your hands on your forearms, put the roller under the front of your legs and lean on it with your whole body. Roll the front of your legs from knee to hip.
Back thigh massage
Roll the back of your leg from knee to hip. To enhance the effect, cross your legs.
Inner thigh massage
Bend your leg and place it under your inner thigh.
Massage of the gluteal muscles
Sit on the roller, put your hands on the floor. Place the shin of the left leg on the knee of the right and roll out the right gluteal muscle. Then switch legs and roll out the left side.
Calf massage
Sit on the floor, put the roller under the calves, raise yourself on your hands and roll out the muscles. To enhance the effect, cross your legs - this will increase the pressure on the roller.
Foot massage
Take off your shoes and step on the massager. Roll it under your foot, pressing down with your body weight. You can use the same massager or buy special models for the feet.
The muscles of the body are constantly in need of training, because they are directly involved in the work of the musculoskeletal system. During the work of muscle tissue, blood flow to it increases, which means that the amount of oxygen and various nutrients increases. If it has already happened that you have to wear a cast, then the load decreases, or stops altogether, and the muscle cells atrophy. A very important point in the treatment process is the restoration of normal functions after a leg fracture. This article will just talk about how to develop a leg. This, of course, is a difficult task, but doable.
The main tasks in rehabilitation
- Eliminate muscle atrophy, vascular changes.
- Increase the tone of the leg muscles.
- Improve muscle elasticity.
- Develop mobility in the joints.
- Fight congestion.
- Increase physical activity.
The tasks, at first glance, are not so difficult, but they are simple for a healthy person. And for a person with an injured leg, the implementation of each item is a huge job.
How to develop a leg after a fracture
- Massage, physiotherapy, rubbing. It is required to restore the previous muscle activity as much as possible. It is necessary to apply rubbing the legs with cedar oil. Massage after a fracture is very important. Any touch, stroking, kneading movements increase muscle tone, thus speeding up the healing process. Magnetic therapy sessions have a beneficial effect. Apply warming procedures (wax, ozocerite).
- Baths with additives. In the process of rehabilitation, it is imperative to take baths, adding sea salt and various medicinal herbs to them. To prepare such a bath, use 100 grams of salt for every liter of water. Horsetail baths will be useful, as field horsetail helps with circulatory disorders, affects swelling in fractures.
- Physical exercise. They will help to solve the problem with muscle atrophy in the best way. Exercises can be done at home, you do not need a trainer for this. Special knowledge is not required to perform the exercises. Correctly calculate the load. You should not perform all the necessary exercises in one day if the leg will bother you a lot.
- special diet. Adhere to proper, and most importantly, good nutrition. Eat foods that contain a sufficiently large amount of calcium and silicon. During the rehabilitation period, cottage cheese, cow's milk, fish, soybeans, bran bread, hazelnuts, green vegetables, sesame seeds will be especially useful. Silicon replenish from raspberries, radishes, currants, pears. Especially useful in this period will be vitamins C, D, E.
Leg Development Exercises
- First: walk as much as possible, fully leaning on the injured leg.
- Second: standing or sitting, perform rotational movements with the foot. Start the exercise a week after removing the plaster.
- Third: swing your leg. Stand next to a chair, holding on to its back. Raise the injured leg up and hold it in the air. Repeat 10 times. And for a healthy leg, do the same. As a variant of the same exercise, take your leg to the side.
- Fourth: standing near a chair, hold on to the back. Slowly rise on your toes, lower on your heels. If it is easy, then you need to do the exercise on one leg.
- Fifth: lie down on the floor and swing with cross movements.
After a month of performing such exercises, it will be possible to start exercising on simulators. It will be very effective to work on a bicycle simulator, but pedal at a slow pace and initially no more than 10 minutes.
Even while in a cast, you need to do exercises, you can start a day after the injury. Wiggle your toes, tense and relax your muscles, including those of your cast leg.
Now you know how to develop a leg after a fracture or severe injury, what exercises to perform, what products to give preference to. Get well soon!
Reading time: 24 min
The warm-up before training is a set of exercises to prepare the body for physical activity, which will help you avoid injury and get the most out of your workout. The main purpose of the warm-up is to gradually increase body temperature and warm up muscles that are in a state of inactivity.
We offer you a selection of warm-up exercises and a ready-made sequential plan for their implementation. These exercises are equally suitable for warming up at home and in the gym.
Why is it necessary to warm up before a workout?
Warming up before a workout is an essential part of a fitness session. A good warm-up will gradually increase your heart rate, increase circulation to your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and prepare you mentally for your workout. Regardless of whether you are going to do strength or cardio exercises, warming up before training is a must.
Benefits of stretching before exercise:
- You warm up the muscles, ligaments and tendons, which improves their elasticity and reduces the risk of injury and sprains.
- Warm muscles contract and relax better during exercise, which means your strength capabilities during exercise will be higher.
- Warm-up exercises optimize the activity of the cardiovascular system: this will help reduce the load on the heart during exercise.
- Warming up before a workout improves blood circulation, which will saturate your muscles with oxygen and nutrients. This will help increase your stamina while exercising.
- During the warm-up, your body increases the production of hormones responsible for energy production.
- Training is a kind of stress for the body, so a quality warm-up will prepare you for stress from a mental point of view, improve coordination and attention.
- During light warm-up exercises, adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, making your body better able to cope with physical exertion.
- Warming up speeds up metabolic processes.
A good warm-up before training will help you not only avoid injuries and problems with the cardiovascular system, but also more effectively conduct the session. If you want to skip warm-ups and save time and focus more on heavy lifting for faster results, then this is the wrong way to go. After warming up, your body will work better, you will be more energetic and stamina, which will give a much better result in the long run.
A dynamic warm-up must be carried out before any workout, regardless of the type of load: strength training with weights, running, cycling, kickboxing, plyometrics, twine stretching, and any other sports direction. A warm-up before training is needed both when exercising in the gym and at home (on the street).
Why don't people warm up before a workout?
Many people do not warm up before a workout, considering it a waste of time. You probably heard more than once from friends or acquaintances: “I regularly do strength and cardio workouts in the gym and never warm up and cool down. I didn't feel any harm.". Never rely on someone else's dubious experience!
Firstly, each person has his own individual level of strength, no one knows the reserves of his body. It may not fail for a month, two, six months or even a year, gradually wearing out, but how long this can last is unknown. Secondly, in the face of redundant and very often conflicting information on fitness, many of us already make a lot of mistakes that can affect our health. Therefore, try to follow at least the canonical recommendations - doing a warm-up before each workout is just one of them.
It is important to note that even personal trainers and group trainers may not spend the minimum amount of warm-up time. But you yourself are responsible for your health, so do not be too lazy to come 10 minutes before training and do your own warm-up. Even if until today you have avoided injuries, then remember that a cold tendon tear or other unpleasant injury can happen at any time.
The situation is similar with home workouts, of which a large number are now being produced. Typically, programs are designed for 20-30 minutes, which is very important for many people in conditions of high employment. And of course, in such short programs, at best, 2-3 minutes will be given to the warm-up, and at worst, there will be no warm-up at all.
What is the danger of not warming up?
Studies show that only 5% of people do a good warm-up before training, and this is a very sad statistic. Many practitioners believe that this is a waste of time, which is already limited in fitness classes. Let's remember once again how dangerous it can be to not warm up before training, in addition to reducing the effectiveness of the session?
- The most common problem that occurs when there is no warm-up before training is sprain. A very unpleasant and painful syndrome, because of which you have to take a break from training.
- An even more annoying problem is joint injury. If you exercise on a cold joint, then there is a high risk of damaging it. The danger of a joint injury lies not only in the duration of recovery, but also in the fact that after an injury, it will constantly remind of itself. Due to incorrect loads, especially often suffer knee, ankle, shoulder and hip joints.
- Without a quality warm-up, due to the high load on the heart, dizziness or even fainting may occur.
- Sudden abrupt exercise without a preparatory warm-up part can cause a sharp jump in pressure which is equally dangerous for people with hypertension and hypotension.
Warm-up structure before training
It is advisable to do a warm-up before training. minimum 7-10 minutes. It is better to start warming up with light cardio exercises to warm up the body. Then you should perform dynamic exercises to warm up the joints and stretch the muscles. The warm-up ends again with cardio exercises with already b O more intensity. At the end of the warm-up, we restore breathing by taking a deep breath and exhaling.
The structure of the warm-up before training for 7-10 minutes:
- Light cardio warm-up: 1-2 minutes
- Joint gymnastics: 1-2 minutes
- Dynamic Muscle Stretch: 2-3 minutes
- Cardio warm up: 2-3 minutes
- Recovery breathing: 0.5-1 minute
Cardio warming up will increase body temperature, increase blood circulation, and prepare your muscles for further stretching. Joint gymnastics activates the work of joints, tendons and ligaments, improves their mobility and helps to work out the periarticular muscles. Dynamic stretch will make your muscles more elastic, which will help them work more efficiently throughout the workout.
Thanks to such a warm-up, you will make your heart work faster, speed up blood circulation, gently wake up all the muscles of the body. After a proper warm-up, a pleasant warmth spreads through the body, you feel cheerful and full of energy. If you have planned stretching or stretching for twine as a workout, then the final cardio warm-up can be increased to 5-7 minutes.
Do not confuse pre-workout warm-up with post-workout stretching. In the warm-up, your goal is to warm up the muscles and joints, increase blood circulation, and prepare the body for stress. The warm-up should not be slow and static, you should warm up well. After training, on the contrary, you should restore breathing, lower your heart rate and perform static stretching exercises.
Warm-up exercises
The importance of the warm-up is difficult to overestimate, it is a fundamental part of the workout. First, a good warm-up before exercise reduces the risk of injury. Secondly, warm muscles work more efficiently. The warm-up should include a complete and thoughtful set of exercises that will help prepare your body for training in a quality manner.
Stage 1: Light cardio warm up
A warm-up should always begin with light cardio exercises to warm up the body and not pull the muscle during dynamic stretching. Cardio warm-up lasts 1-2 minutes and may include light jogging or brisk walking in place. During the frame warm-up, your heart rate should rise and your body warm up. Each exercise for cardio warm-up is performed 30-45 seconds .
1. Walking with knees up
2. Walking with arms and legs apart
Stage 2: Joint gymnastics
Joint gymnastics, by the way, is also useful as a regular morning exercise. We repeat each exercise 10 times, as needed on the right and left sides. Do not forget to perform some rotational exercises both clockwise and counterclockwise.
1. Rotation of the head with a crescent (do not throw the head back)
7. Leg rotation
Stage 3: Dynamic Muscle Stretching
After articular gymnastics, there is a stage for dynamic stretching of different muscle groups. Exercises are performed according to 15-20 seconds .
1. Breeding arms for the muscles of the chest and back
2. Shoulder stretch
4. Side bends to warm up the sides
5. Tilts to the legs to warm up the body
6. Back and leg arch squats
7. Squat twists for the back and shoulders
8. Side lunges for leg warm-ups
9. Lunges to warm up the legs
10. Rotate in a lunge to warm up the core, legs, arms and shoulders
Stage 4: Cardio warm-up
At the final stage of the warm-up, we again return to cardio exercises to warm up even more and raise the body temperature. The speed and intensity of the exercise can be increased, the duration of the final cardio warm-up is 2-3 minutes. Each exercise is performed 40-60 seconds, see the execution speed according to your capabilities.
3. Jumping with the breeding of arms and legs
4. Running with knees up
Stage 5: Restoring breathing
Be sure to remember to restore your breathing after doing cardio exercises by taking a deep breath in and out 0.5-1 minute. Choose one of these exercises:
1. Restoring breathing with squatting
2. Breath recovery with tilt
Thank you youtube channels for the gifs: FitnessType, Nicole Perry, PsycheTruth, Dayanna Marz, Deporlovers, Tuiwok Talento.
Stage 6: Special warm-up
If you are doing strength training with heavy weights, then also be sure to pay attention to special warm-up. It is aimed at the maximum warming up of those muscles that will be actively involved in the training. As part of a special warm-up, you should perform exercises from the main complex, but without weights or with a small weight (20-30% of the maximum).
A special warm-up should be performed immediately before the exercise or before training for a whole muscle group. Attention, a special warm-up does not replace the general warm-up before training! This is only one of the stages of the lesson, but also very important.
Here is an example of a special warm-up. Let's say you have 80kg barbell squats scheduled. So, before this exercise, you should do a kneading set of 10-15 reps with an empty bar or with a bar weight of 20-30% of the maximum weight. Once again, we emphasize that a special warm-up is performed after the general, and not in place of it.
How to warm up before running or cardio?
How to properly warm up before a run or other cardio workout? In this case, follow an absolutely similar pattern: a small cardio warm-up for 2 minutes (running in place, light jumping rope) and then joint gymnastics + stretching. And only after that go directly to cardio training, gradually increasing the intensity.
Many people think that it is not necessary to warm up before a cardio workout. However, this is not true. Muscles, joints, heart get a serious load during running and jumping, so it is very dangerous to exercise without a warm-up. Just walking and gradually increasing the intensity without doing warm-up exercises for the joints and muscles is not enough! Be sure to perform joint exercises and stretching before cardio training.
Features of the warm-up before training:
- We perform a warm-up from top to bottom (neck, shoulders, arms, chest, back, core, legs). But this is rather a traditional approach to warm-up exercises, the order of exercises does not play a fundamental role.
- The warm-up should take place at a dynamic, but gentle pace. Your goal is to gently warm up and prepare for more intense exercise. You should feel warm throughout your body from the warm-up, but don't overdo it.
- Warm-up should begin with a slow pace and a small amplitude of movements, gradually increasing the pace and amplitude.
- Avoid long static positions, the warm-up before training should include dynamic exercises. Do not confuse it with stretching after a workout, during which it is supposed to freeze in one position for 30-60 seconds to stretch the muscles.
- During the warm-up before training at home or in the gym, avoid sudden movements, try to perform the exercises smoothly. Avoid pain or discomfort in the joints (crunching in the joints maybe, it's not scary).
- If you are exercising in a cool room (or outdoors), then dress warmly for a faster warm-up or increase the warm-up to 15-20 minutes.
- If you know that today you will train some part of the body especially intensively, then pay special attention to it when warming up. For example, on your lower body workout day, thoroughly stretch your hips and knees, and stretch your leg and glute muscles.
- If you work out in the gym, then you can use a treadmill or as a cardio warm-up. Always start at a slow pace, the pulse should rise gradually.
Warm up video before workout
If you need ready-made warm-up options before training, then we offer you 6 short videos to help you warm up and get ready for intense workouts. The programs last 5-10 minutes and are suitable for both men and women.
Warm-up video in Russian
1. Universal warm-up before training for 7 minutes
2. Warm up before training for 7 minutes
3. Warm up before training for 8 minutes
Warm-up video in English
1. 5 Minute Total Body Warm Up Workout
2. 5 minute Quick Warm Up Cardio Workout
3. 10 Minute Pre-workout Warm Up
Wherever you do it: at home, on the street or in the gym, be sure to warm up before training, and then physical activity will bring you pleasure, benefit and results.