What is a warm-up?
A good warm-up gets your blood flowing, raises your muscle temperature and increases your breathing rate. All of this gives your body time to prepare for exercise, improve your performance and help you get the results you want.
If new to the exercise you will need a longer warm-up.
Examples of common warm-up routines
Aim for 5-10 minutes to warm up.
Spend 3 to 5 minutes marching in place, jogging or cycling on a stationary bike at a slow pace.
Undertake 2 to 5 minutes of dynamic stretches.
Examples of these are knee lifts, bottom kicks, walking lunges, jumping jacks, side stepping and arm circles or swings.
- Start with small movements and then increase to large movements
- Complete 6-8 repetitions of each exercise
- Make sure you cover all major muscle groups from head to toe
You can practice skills specific to your sport as part of your warm-up (e.g. dribble through cones for football or pass the ball back and forth as you run with a partner, practice different passes in basketball).
It is not advisable to use static stretches (See cool down) in the warm-up – these are best left until after your exercise.
