Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Longer warm-up can mitigate age-related issues

How long do you warm up before exercise or playing – 5 minutes?  Maybe even 10?  You may well be an injury waiting to happen.

If you’re like me, you hit the tennis ball around for 8 to 10 minutes – not always gently – before starting a game.  That’s woefully inadequate even though it’s more than some other athletes.  Research shows that the great majority of golfers, for instance, warm up for less than 5 minutes before taking their first swing and many for less than one minute.

An article from 2009 in the American College of Sports Medicine’s journal is worth reading to understand how warm-up helps offset the effect of various age-related physical declines.  As it noted, “the aging athlete has muscles that have a slower speed of contraction …, tendency toward tightness in the connective tissues, reduced motor coordination, and a general decline in the total capacity and initial responsiveness of the cardiorespiratory system at the start of exercise.”

Just two examples, from the article, of how adequate warm-up can mitigate the impact of such things:

§         Weight bearing activity throughout the warm-up facilitates diffusion of lubricating fluid into joint space – so your joints work better.
§         General body warm-up increases blood flow to the brain, which enhances alertness and cognitive function – so you react faster.

Skimping on warm-up is an error people make when they are simply working out, too.  I thought I was doing it right by hitting the treadmill and rowing machine for 5 minutes before working out.  Then my 31-year-old trainer – a former Olympic-class wrestler and coach of a national team – told me he warms up for 20 minutes before an every-day workout.  

I’d love to hear what others are doing for their warm-ups, so please share!

PS  Golfers: that journal article included lots of great research-based information on golf and how warm-up can specifically improve your game and help prevent injury.

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