What happens if you don’t warm up before a workout?

Many people think warming up is a waste of time, but they’re mistaken – it’s dangerous to train without preparation.

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Tells about how training without a warm-up can turn out.

Why do you need a warm-up?

The purpose of warming up is to warm up your muscles, ligaments and joints before working out. Take the example of a car: if you don’t start it, it won’t run. It’s the same with the body: for the body to work well, it needs to be prepared. Warm-up consists of a simple set of exercises that awaken the body, improve range of motion, reduce the risk of injury and sprains.

Olga Andrianova

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Before any workout in the gym can not do without warming up. This directly affects the result of the exercises – the exercises become more effective, and the likelihood of injury is reduced.

Many amateurs and professionals sometimes skip warming up, but you can not start training without preparation – the body simply does not have time to prepare for the load. Warming up before training is an important stage for the body. Therefore, you should not ignore warm-up exercises.

According to the fitness trainer, many people consider warming up useless, because it does not burn fat and does not build muscle mass. But its purpose is different.

What does the warm-up give us?

• It prepares the musculoskeletal system and muscles for the upcoming exercises (warm and elastic muscles give more strength and output).
• Makes joints more mobile (due to the release of inter-articular fluid) and ligaments more flexible (otherwise you can get a tear in the ligaments, which takes 2-6 months to recover).
• Saturates the body with oxygen.
• Prepares the cardiovascular system for the load, raises blood pressure, pulse, temperature (after training everything comes back to normal).
• Increases the production of adrenaline and testosterone.
• Boosts metabolism.
• Improves concentration and mood for physical activity.
• Reduces the risk of injury, which is important when working both with and without weights, for example, in aerobic exercises.

What is the right way to warm up?

According to the fitness trainer, there is no program for warming up – all exercises are selected based on the individual characteristics of the body, the type and goals of training.

There are three types of warm-up:

General – exercises that warm up the whole body in a complex.

Special – focus on a particular muscle group.

Stretching – helps to achieve greater elasticity and mobility of the body. Stretching is performed before and after training – the exercises differ in dynamics and time of action.

Olga Andrianova

fitnesa treneris

It is best to start training with cardio exercises – it is one of the most common ways to warm up the whole body. For cardio is enough 7-15 minutes, then proceed to warming up the whole body from top to bottom or vice versa. It is very important to perform all movements as smoothly as possible and avoid sudden jerks. Professional athletes, for example, allocate about 40 minutes for warming up to exclude injuries associated with a “cold” body.

What happens if you don’t warm up?

Training without warming up can provoke a sprain of ligaments. The recovery period depends on the degree of stretching: the first degree – from zero to three days, the second degree – from three weeks to six months, the third degree – from five weeks to one year. In this case, you will have to undergo recovery procedures (physiotherapy, massage), use additional medicines (gels, ointments, pills), and training will have to postpone for an indefinite period of time, which is set by the doctor.

According to the fitness trainer, without warming up, the ligaments are less elastic, and therefore the risk of injury increases. For example, if you twist your leg, you can damage the ankle. And from it can then start problems with the knee or hip joint. All of these injuries lead to back problems, particularly lower back problems. Plus, during training, the risk of damage to muscle fibers increases, the recovery of which takes a lot of time.

A fitness trainer warns: there are three types of muscle damage that you can’t identify on your own.

• Small (MRI, ultrasound reveals a tear of less than 5 mm).
• Medium (according to the results of MRI, ultrasound there is a rupture of fibers more than 5 mm, hematoma).
• Subtotal and complete muscle tears/tears (MRI, ultrasound reveals retraction, hematoma).

First degree takes one day to two weeks to recover, second degree takes four days to three months, third degree takes three weeks to six months.

Wouldn’t you agree that it’s better to spend an extra 10 minutes warming up than to sit at home for weeks with an injury?

Without warming up, in addition to damage to the musculoskeletal system, the cardiovascular system gets a strong load – due to a sharp increase in HR (heart rate) and pressure. As a result, severe shortness of breath appears, and this leads to even more acidification of muscle fibers, deterioration of health, and increased intracranial pressure.

Plus the risk of dizziness and loss of consciousness increases, so special attention to warm-up should be paid to people with cardiovascular disease. Fitness trainer notes that it is important to do warm-up – the ligaments become more elastic and the joint – more stable, so the risk of injury is reduced.

Take care of yourself and warm up thoroughly before the main part of the workout!