Purpose and benefits of sports warm-up

El sports warm-up It has the purpose of getting the body progressively to reach an optimal level of physical fitness, obtaining greater mobility and flexibility in the joints, by performing a series of exercises, the immediate objective of which is to cause an increase in muscle temperature and thus when starting any activity we can perform to the maximum and also be in a position to prevent possible injuries.

Types of sports warm-up depending on the objectives

1. El General sports warm-up prepares the body for normal physical activity with exercises of low specificity and preparatory intensity and must be adapted to the individual, progressive in intensity and prolonged for the necessary time.
2. El Specific sports warm-up It is aimed at preparing the body for the practice of specific activities and deals specifically with the specific preparation of one or more parts of the body. Among the specific warm-ups we can include the dedicated to the different sports, consisting of a set of exercises, gradually ordered and aimed at all muscles and joints involved, in order to prepare the body for better physical performance.

In many sports, the sports warm-up is done with the same instruments that are going to be used in the execution of the main activity.

All warm-ups have an important preventive function, by trying to minimize any type of injury that may occur during the exercise, but we call preventive warm-up which is carried out in the recovery processes of an injury and is usually accompanied by massages and hot / cold baths.

Cooling

The main objective of the cool-down is to relax the muscle tone after the overload that the training has caused us. In this way, we achieve complete muscle relaxation and prevent us from resenting the effort the next day.
It is advisable to jog for a few minutes after training and then do some very gentle stretches.

Benefits of sports warm-up

• Increase in the temperature of the muscles involved and of the body in general, which in adults can rise above 38,5º
• Increased general blood flow and muscles in particular, which means increasing the supply of oxygen and improving the elimination of carbon dioxide.
• Increased heart rate and lung activity, improving its capacity and the use of oxygen.
• Increased performance and speed of muscle contraction.
• Improved reflexes and activity in neural circuits in the transmission of nerve impulses.
• Increased capacities of all sensory organs.
• Improvement of the general metabolism, ordering the different sources of energy.
• Increases the capacity for attention, concentration and information processing.
• Increase in general organic capacity, muscles and joints.
• Increased strength and physical dexterity, with decreased muscle tension, by improving oxygenation and increasing blood supply.
• Increased body temperature and improved synovial viscosity to facilitate joint and muscle sliding.
• Increases muscle elasticity and prevents sudden strains and tears, because the contraction and relaxation of the muscle, during exercise, improves speed and efficiency.
• Adapt and improve learning in the face of new circumstances experienced.