Finally, we forced ourselves to do morning runs, but after the first lesson we regretted it? Many adults, especially those who do not engage in sports on an ongoing basis, do not know their body. And this ignorance leads to various kinds of injuries. Frozen muscles and joints can not immediately adapt to the emerging loads, and they must be prepared. Remember - just children can afford to take and run, without any consequences. Athletes know how to prepare for such classes, so they are unlikely to learn something new here. And if you do not belong to either category, then we strongly recommend that you carefully read this article.
Why warm up is necessary
Warm up - This is more than half a successful workout. It is present in absolutely every sport, and its importance is sometimes difficult to overestimate. No wonder in childhood, at physical education classes she was given so much attention. But what is really so useful warm-up before running?
The first example is a morning run. Sleep is not only a pleasant pastime for your brain, but also a chance to relax each of our muscles. Except for the heart of course. So, after such prolonged inactivity, muscle tissue is in a certain state of "freezing". The very first thing warming up helps is warming up sleeping muscles. The warmer they are, the more they can stretch with no negative consequences.
In addition, such muscles become more flexible and mobile. This will help not only to maintain balance if necessary, but also minimizes injuries if you suddenly stumble, tuck your foot, or fall. A warmed-up body responds faster to possible dangers, which will help your body do the right thing in a given situation. Do not forget about muscle memory - when you slip on the ice, it is not you who keep yourself upright, but your body who chooses the right decisions. Therefore, a warm-up is a kind of cup of coffee, not just for the brain, but for the muscles.
In addition, a good workout allows you to wake up your sleeping consciousness as well. Psychologically, it’s much easier to perform a couple of exercises at home, in comfortable conditions, than to immediately run outside. Thus, you will take the first step. After the warm-up before running, you will not only be ready to continue the activity, but you will want to continue! Having received a good charge of vivacity, the cold street will no longer seem so, and your feet will carry you to new achievements!
Summing up, we can distinguish several main useful properties of the workout:
• It helps to warm up muscles, cartilage and joints, which will allow you to minimize the chance of injury, or minimize the effects of such an injury;
• Helps psychologically tune into the upcoming workout;
• What is especially important in the morning - such a warm-up will make the heart work faster, because during sleep, the heart rate decreases sharply. Improved blood flow to the muscles will allow your body to quickly get out of sleep;
• A warm-up performed correctly causes a kind of euphoria - it can be compared with morning sipping, only for the whole body.
Of course, I want to say that regular warm-up is itself a healing procedure. Fifteen minutes a day spent on a warm-up will allow you to play a couple of years with an old woman with a scythe, which is also very nice.
What you do not need to do at a warm-up before running
Despite all the advantages of a warm-up, if it is performed incorrectly, you can only increase the chance of suffering. It must be done correctly using certain exercises.
So, let's go directly to the rules.
1. First, warm-up should not start with stretching exercises. This is especially true of those cases when it is carried out after awakening. Remember - your muscles have not “woken up” yet and stretching them when not warmed up can lead to injuries and sprains.
2. Warm up exercises should be varied. The first task is to increase the blood circulation in the body, for which various jumps and squats are perfect. Then you can go to the swings of the limbs, and only then carry out stretching.
3. The warm-up should not be long. The optimal time is 15 minutes in a not too intense form. If you do it longer, or too actively, then you will have no strength or desire to run. You need to prepare your body for the main event, and not kill its motivation with a premature load.
How to warm up
Warm up can be divided into several parts:
1. For starters, there are light exercises, like swings, squats, jumps and so on. This is the initial stage of the workout, which allows the body to wake up and prepare for the loads.
2. After the first stage there is an intensive stretching. You should stretch each muscle group quite actively. For each muscle for about 20 seconds - until a feeling of discomfort appears. But you should never be hurt. Stretching the already sufficiently warmed muscles, you bring them into tone, and reduce the chance of getting stretching while running.
3. The final stage of warm-up before running can be considered an easy run. Immediately breaking your speed record is not the best idea - the maximum that you get from this is quick shortness of breath and unwillingness to continue training. Start with 5-10 light jogs, gradually accelerating the pace. All runners do this, so should you, if you want to get both from running and from warm-up.
Since we are talking about running, special attention will need to be paid specifically to the legs. We will offer you an example of a warm-up:
1. Despite what muscle group you want to highlight, warm-up should be done from top to bottom. Therefore, the first exercise is turning your head to the sides. About 15 times in each direction.
2. The second exercise for the neck is head rotation. Slowly, so that you feel good tension in these muscles, turn your head first to one side, then to the second side. Repeat 10 times in each direction.
3. The next are the shoulders. Let's start with the rotation of straight arms. Four times in one direction, four in the other.
4. Then, put the brushes on the shoulders, and again do four times in one and the other side. Although the exercises are visually similar, they are slightly different from each other.
5. Rotation of the elbows. Stretch your straight arms to the sides, and begin to rotate them in the elbow joints. On four accounts, 10 times in each direction.
6. Same thing, just rotate with brushes.
7. Stretch the broadest muscles of the back. Stand straight, one hand on the belt, the other above the head. Make tilts with the body first one way, then the other. For four accounts, 5 repetitions for each side.
8. Now the lower back - hands on the belt, tilting back and forth-left-right. The exercise is done on four accounts, at least 5 times on each side.
9. Exercise booklet - put your feet together, hands raised up and also together. Lean forward so that your hands touch your toes. In this position, spend about 10 seconds. Then bend back, and also spend about 10 seconds.
10. Body turns - put your hands on your belt and begin to rotate around the pelvis. Four times one way, then four times the other way. Repeat about 5 times for each side.
11. Raising the knees. Stand straight and begin to alternately raise the legs bent at the knee as high as possible. About 20 times for each leg.
12. Squats - Perform 20 squats at a fast pace.
13. The rotation of the legs in the knee joint. Sit down a little and put your hands on your knees. In this position, rotate using the knee joints in one direction or the other. Four accounts, five times each way.
14. The stop needs to be worked out very well. Rotate it in different directions, and then, using the floor as a support, give it different positions and stretch them.
This was the simplest example of a warm-up before running. You can combine other exercises, add something new. In general, experiment - the main task in any case remains one. You must warm up your body well, and then nothing can stop you!
