A warm-up is often used before any type of physical activity in order to help prepare the body for the increased stress soon to be placed on it. A warm-up should address multiple body systems including cardiovascular, muscular, and neuromotor. The great thing is that the pieces of a warm-up are not mutually exclusive - your muscular and neuromotor activities can be part of your cardiovascular warm up. When a proper warm up is performed some of the benefits include: 

1. Reduction of injury risk during activity 

2. Optimized performance 

3. Minimize pain for discomfort in cases of injury or chronic conditions. 

Many people are familiar with a cardiovascular warm-up. This is light activity prior to getting into your main activity. A light (meaning 3-4/10 effort) cardio warm-up of walking, jogging, cycling, jumping jacks, step ups, jogging in place, rowing, etc can help to gradually increase the heart rate and amount of oxygen and blood flowing throughout the body. As the temperature of the active tissue increases it helps to increase the oxygenation of that tissue and improves the amount of energy the muscle can produce. 

Muscularly, you want to make sure your tissues are warm and are moving through the mobility and range that they will need to move through in order to perform your activity. One of the best ways to hit this is through dynamic movements. As opposed to static stretching, we want to use dynamic movements during the warm-up. These can include torso or thoracic rotations, hip swings, walking lunges, walking airplanes or quad pulls, high kness, butt kicks, windmills, etc. Ideally these dynamic movements are as fluid as possible and help draw in fluid to the tissue and joint spaces. These light functional movements will also help to start priming your nervous system. 

The neuromotor part of your warm-up can be very individual. The goal of these light activities is to prime the neuromotor connection to the muscles you will be using. If preparing for a run these activities could include banded side steps, banded kickbacks, calf raises, single leg squats, single leg deadlifts. These neuromotor activities can be vital in helping you feel good and perform your best. If you’ve been dealing with discomfort, pain or injury during physical activity, reach out to us at Bespoke PT. We can analyze your movement patterns and help create a custom warm up plan for you to be at your best.

Written by: Holli Finneren Utama PT, DPT, Cert. DN