8 Full Body Warm Up Exercises To Get Your Muscles Ready For A Workout

Warm up exercises: Combination of cardio and movement exercises makes for a good warm up

Warming up before exercising is important for various reasons. Firstly, it helps in reducing the stiffness in the body, which probably occurs because of long hours of sitting. Secondly, it allows your body to be in full range of motion while exercising, without facing much difficulty or muscle wear and tear. According to celeb fitness trainer Vinod Channa, doing a little conditioning workout or warm up can help your knees, elbows, shoulders and other under-utilised joints to exercise without difficulty. A little warm up, which often includes low intensity cardio exercises, can help you feel fresher and prepare you for your target fitness goals, says Channa.

Warm up exercises with a foam roller

Fitness trainer Kayla Itsines says that warming up correctly can reduce your risk of injury. "I would much rather prehab a movement than rehab an injury," she writes in her Instagram post.

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How to know if you have warmed up?

According to Itsines, to know if you have warmed up correctly, you can check for an increase in your heart rate. After a warm up session, your body will automatically feel more mobile, and warm to touch. "You should also feel that you are ready to workout," says Itsines.

A combination of cardio and movement is Itsines' idea of a warm up. A walk on the treadmill for five to 10 minutes followed by dynamic stretching would sum it up.

Stretching exercises are also included in warm up
Photo Credit: iStock

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And if you have a foam roller, then here are a few exercises that you can try:

• Traps
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Calves

The following warm up exercises can be done to improve your range of motion:

• Shoulder rotation
• Thoracic rotations
• Leg swings
• Single-leg raise

Watch the video shared below to see how each exercise is done. Try these exercises before your workout to improve your performance and reduce chances of injury.

View this post on Instagram

WARM UP REMINDER! I feel that women need to understand WHY it is important to warm up and how to know when your body is actually “warm”. Warming up correctly can reduce your risk of injury. I would much rather prehab a movement than rehab an injury. ⠀⠀⠀ So how can you tell if you are 'warm'? Check for an increase in your heart rate. You will also feel more mobile. Your body may feel warm to touch AND you should also feel “ready to workout”. ⠀⠀⠀ The way that I choose to warm up (and what I tell my clients to do) is a combination of CARDIO and MOVEMENT. This would look like a treadmill walk for 5-10 minutes followed by dynamic stretching. You'll need a foam roller and recovery band to follow me through these exercises ... LET'S DO THIS! ⁣⠀⠀⠀ Foam Rolling: ⁣⠀⠀⠀ Traps⁣ Glutes⁣ Hamstrings⁣ Calves⁣ ⁣⠀⠀⠀ Range Of Motion⁣: ⁣⠀⠀⠀ Shoulder Rotations⁣ Thoracic Rotations Leg Swings⁣ Single-Leg Raise⁣ ⠀⠀⠀ There's a warm up for every #BBG workout in the @SWEAT app, with different options depending on whether you want to do cardio or movement or a combination of the two! ⠀⠀⠀ www.kaylaitsines.com/SWEATchallenge ⠀⠀⠀ #BBG #warmup #SWEATchallenge #strongertogether

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on Jun 21, 2020 at 5:01pm PDT

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