No matter how young or old you are, whether you are a professional athlete or just like to have a kick about with your mates, it is absolutely always important to warm up – especially for the long term health of your tendons, joints and cartilage!
At GBR Nutrition, we pride ourselves on helping everyone prevent injuries before they even happen. Along with regular use of our GBR Collagen Liquid for injury prevention, we spoke to Hannah Rickwood, Founder of the Hapifitness Pilates Studio, to find out why warm ups are so important.
“Warming up increases your body temperature which reduces the risk of muscle and tendon injuries, as well as enhancing their mechanical efficiency and power. Increased body temperature also helps promote the flow of synovial fluid, which surrounds and cushions the joint surface. Warming up also prepares the cardiovascular system for the increase in demand for blood and oxygen around the body.”
- Depending on the type of exercise, your warm up can always be a bit different. It is important to consider:
- Matching the intensity of the exercise to the warm up.
- Which parts of your body you need to concentrate on.
- Warm up length – anything from 5-20 minutes is usually great!
Hannah has provided us with a fantastic, quick and easy warm up routine that you can do at home, at your work desk, on the pitch, in the field or at the gym!
Quick and Easy Hapifitness Warm Up:
1. Neck, ear to shoulder side to side, circles
2. Shoulder rolls, arm cycles and swings
3. Thoracic twist
4. Side bends
5. Reach from side to side, full circles
6. Hip, knee and ankle circles
Check out our social media channels for the video instructions!