How to warm up properly

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your heart health and overall wellbeing – and the most important preparation for any movement or exercise is an appropriate warm-up.

The research around appropriate practice for warm-ups is constantly changing. Stretching is traditionally the recommended way to warm up for exercise, but research now shows that stretching alone does not appear to be of any use in injury prevention. However, it is useful on a regular basis long-term for improving flexibility, which may be helpful for injury prevention in some cases.

A gentle warm-up helps to increase your cardiovascular activity. For people recovering from a heart condition or working on preventing a heart condition, this is even more important so as not to shock the body system into sudden activity. A warm-up gives your blood vessels and heart a chance to gently ease into activity, and this allows you to slowly gauge your heart’s response to increased cardiovascular strain.

This increase in cardiovascular output means more oxygen-laden and nutrient-rich blood gets pumped around your body and to your muscles, providing them with what they need to contract and function safely and effectively. It also removes the waste products of energy production. This activity also raises your body temperature slightly and warms up your muscles and joints.

For basic aerobic exercises such as running or cycling, warm-ups such as the above are usually enough preparation. But if you intend to do sport where there will be rapid changes in muscle length, or gym exercises where you are taking your muscles and joints through their full range of motion, it may be valuable to add a bit of dynamic movement to your warm-up. There is a selection of ballistic movements that can be done, such as the high leg kicks you might see soccer players doing to warm up pre-match. If you are interested in doing these, it’s best to see a qualified trainer for a demonstration and to also assess that you are doing them properly, to avoid doing more harm than good.

Warming up may include taking your body through the full range of expected movement before you add weight. For example, if you are planning to do squats, start by doing 15 to 20 without any weight added, or do some body weight lunges. If you are doing upper body work, prepare by using very light weights or use a theraband (elastic resistance band of low resistance) to take your shoulder through the full range of movement. Slow controlled rotations of your shoulders may also help with getting your brain used to the idea of the larger range of motion you are about to require.

If you would like to add in a static stretch routine, your muscles should now be warm enough for that to be done.