Dynamic Warm Ups

Ever since i began physical activity i was advised that it was essential for me to "warm up". No one ever told me what a warm up should be apart from " go have a jog around" and "do a few stretches". This trend followed on to the first moment i walked into a gym where i was advised to spend 5 minutes on a piece of CV equipment to get warm, this time i was told it would reduce my risk of injury, me being the inexperienced, guidable 18 year old i was thought what a great idea! After all I didn't want to get injured!

For years i spent 5 minutes peddling away thinking this was the right thing to do and how helpful the instructor was to keep me injury free for all these years! I developed a passion for fitness and decided that this was a career i want to pursue, following this i attended university to study a bachelor of science degree in just that. Whilst here i learnt to not just take peoples word for things but find reasons and justifications for what i was doing and my 5 minutes on a bike was the top of my list!

The american college of sports medicine has this stance on warming up...

"Every workout must begin with a warm up and end with a cool down. A warm up is necessary to prepare the body for exercise by increasing heart rate and blood flow to working muscles. The warm up should start slow and easy and consist of a general cardiovascular exercise such as walking, jogging or biking. The goal is to break a sweat. After 5 to 10 minutes, the warm up should focus on muscles and movements more specific to the exercise or planned activity. " (N, Madelen, 2012)

 Ok so from this my 5 minute bike ride wasn't too bad, granted i may have missed a few warm ups on the certain muscles involved in the work out but my heart rate was increasing, blood flow must have been going to the working muscles! Not to bad, well done me!

Then reading on i found this assumption may have come too soon...

"Flexibility is a vital part of every good warm up. Once the muscles are warm they become more elastic and are ready to be stretched. Weather you choose to perform static stretches (by holding each position for 10-30 seconds) or perform dynamic stretches (by moving the body through functional range of motion) flexibility prepares the muscles, tendons and joints for work by allowing them to move freely through a full active range of motion. The more prepared the body is, the less likely it is to get injured" (N, Madelen, 2012)

Ok, so my warm up was an embarrassment to any good gym program! So what does the perfect warm up contain. Well going by the recommendations it needs to raise my heart rate and increase blood flow to working muscles. Flexibility needs to be a key part of the warm up in either a static or dynamic method. Research suggest that static stretching can hinder performance with one study concluding that an acute bout of stretching impaired the warm-up effect previously achieved ( Behm et al, 2004) so dynamic it is!

So dynamic movements that increase heart rate as well as increasing blood flow to working muscles is the gold standard warm up! Whilst at university i was introduced to the idea of a method dubbed  movement preparation, this involves a routine of dynamic movements that start easy and work there way up to big full body movements! So all that is needed now is to find if any research supports this method of warming up!

Mark Verstegen and Pete Williams did exactly that in 2005. They aimed to improve long term mobility and flexibility of muscles rather than stretching a muscle and then having it return to its pre warm up length and level of tension. Benefits of the movement prep is strengthening muscles in a new range of motion that help stabilise the tiny muscles around all the joints. It improves posture and performance along with decreasing the risk of injury.

Movement prep will increase core temperature, elongate muscle actively to help make long term flexibility gains, improve balance and pro prioreception as well as building mobility, flexibility, stability and strength. It requires no equipment and takes minimum time.

Here is a link to a website containing all the movements and information you need to start beginning movement prep, try and perform this 2-6 times a week. Performing this routine straight after getting out of bed is a great way to start the day on rest days, sounds crazy but give it a go and you'll understand!

http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/workouts/a-better-warm-up.html

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References

BEHM,D,G.,A,BAMBURY.,F,CAHILL.,K,POWER.2004. Effects of acute static stretching on force, balance, reacton time and movement time. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1397-1402

VERSTEGEN,M.,P,WILLIAMS.2005. Movement Prep. Core Performance. Rodale Press, Chapter 5, 33-53

NADELEN,M,D.2012. Basic Injury Prevention Concepts. (online) (viewed 20/05/2013) Available from: http://www.acsm.org/access-public-information/articles/2012/01/10/basic-injury-prevention-concepts