In this period of return to school and the resumption of regular activities, many are those who will return to sports or physical activity. It is therefore important to review together in this blog an essential component of a period of physical activity, namely the warm-up.
Why warm up?
Indeed, the warm-up is essential, because it allows the individual to be physically and mentally prepared for the effort to come. The goal is to gradually increase body temperature, decrease muscle and tendon viscosity (friction between muscle and tendon fibres) as well as increase heart rate, ventilation speed (the rate of our respiration) and blood circulation. As far as injury prevention is concerned, there is still insufficient scientific evidence on the subject for us to conclude that warming up can concretely reduce the risk of injury, but this is also not excluded. So, as the saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”!
Moreover, even if we are uncertain that a warm-up helps prevent injuries, current studies support the fact that an adequate warm-up can increase performance. For this to be possible, the warm-up must be done with a gradually changing intensity and with movements related to the sport or activity in question.
How to warm up?
So ideally the warm-up should start with an aerobic effort like running, jumping rope or cycling. This first exercise will make it possible to achieve some of the objectives of the warm-up as mentioned above, namely to increase body temperature, increase respiratory rate, increase blood supply as well as reduce adhesions at the level fabrics. The warm-up should then continue with low-intensity exercises related to the sport such as small hops for jumping sports, the agility ladder for changing direction sports and more specific skills. These skills can be dribbling with a ball (soccer/basketball) or with a puck (hockey), or even passing, throwing or shooting at increasing intensity, for example. Finally, it is possible to end the warm-up session with dynamic stretching in order to take advantage of the beneficial effects specific to this type of exercise, i.e. an increase in strength, power and range of motion.
A warm-up doesn’t have to be long and complicated to be effective. Its duration can vary between 5 to 15 minutes depending on the sport and the level of effort it requires. Moreover, it is important to keep the exercises simple, because it is by working on the elements most directly related to the sport that the warm-up will be the most effective.
The suggestions presented above are general points that must be adjusted for each individual. To obtain more advice personalized to your reality and your sport or to help you with your physical preparation, do not hesitate to consult in Kinesiology at the clinic.
Vincent Barrette
Your kinesiologist
Références
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/14/935?legid=bjsports;49/14/935
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29063454/
-
Private: Vincent Barrette
Kinesiologist