Warming up before a game is often overlooked. However, warming up super beneficial as it increases flexibility and athletic performance and reduces your chance of injury.
What is the purpose of warming up?
The purpose of warming up is to prevent injury by increasing the body’s core and muscle temperature. Warm muscles turn stiff and rigid muscles into more elastic muscles this reduces the risk of pulled muscles. Warmups should be specific to the type of exercise you are doing but should be a full-body warm-up even if you only plan to work out a few muscle groups.
What is a good warmup?
A good warm-up consists of multiple dynamic exercises. Dynamic exercises provide a stretch through a full range of motion, but the stretch is not held in the ending position. Warm-up exercises should increase your heart rate and thus increases blood flow. Warm-ups should last between 5-10 minutes as this gives the body plenty of time to get ready for physical activity.
Gear up, find some space and check out the list of warmup routines we’ve put together below.
1. Quick warmup routine before any workout – 6 minutes
Chloe Ting is an Australian Youtube fitness personality. She is well known for in-home exercises that require no equipment. This warm-up is great before any workout and is recommended for beginners who don’t know where to get started.
2. How to warm-up before a game? – 5 minutes
Progressive Soccer is a popular youtube channel that provides motivational exercises and workouts specific to improve one’s soccer skills. However this warm-up below is not limited to just soccer players, it is great for any sports that require a lot of running including, oz tag, rugby and football.
Don’t be embarrassed!
Often times we skip the warm-up as we feel embarrassed. We think everyone is watching us and that sometimes we feel awkward. However, that is far from the truth most people are concerned with themselves. I overcome this by focusing on the warm-up and not making eye contact with anyone or I get my friends to warm up with me so I am not embarrassed by myself!
