Warm-up exercises: The best exercises for warming up muscles before training

Before starting your training session, whether weightlifting, cardio or even running, you should devote a few minutes to warm-up and stretching exercises.

This is very necessary for several reasons that we will learn about in this article, in addition to a list of the best warm-up exercises to prepare your muscles before exercise.

 

What are warm-up exercises, and what are their benefits?

Sometimes known as stretching exercises, they are often simple movements that help prepare the muscles before starting training, and the following are the most important benefits of warm-up exercises.

 

1- Raises your body temperature: A good warm-up will raise your body temperature, which is especially beneficial for your muscles. This makes more oxygen available to your muscles, allowing them to contract and relax more easily.

 

2- Reduce the risk of injury: Warm-up exercises improve muscle flexibility, which means reduce the chances of injury to the tendons. Which may sometimes need weeks to recover.

 

3- Improving Mental Muscle Connection: Warm-up exercises for beginners are uncommon, unlike professionals because they know very well the importance of mental connection with muscles. It is known that stretching the muscle before training it prepares the mind before moving on to the actual training.

 

4- Improving range of motion in training: Studies show that when you train your muscles in a full range, this muscle puts under pressure for a longer period and improves the quality of training. And when you do appropriate warm-up exercises before training, the flexibility of the muscles increases, and accordingly, the extent of the exercise increases.

 

Best pre-workout warm-up exercises

1- squats without weights

Because this exercise works more than 200 muscles in the body, it is the best way to stimulate and warm up your muscles before training.

 

Do it for 45 seconds on 3 sets, without weights and try to tighten the abdominal muscles and keep the back straight while lowering and lifting.

 

2- Rotate the arms

The shoulder and arms are included in almost all exercises, so it will be necessary to do some exercises to improve flexibility in the hamstrings and triceps.

 

Rotating the arms is one of the best shoulder warm-up exercises. It is a simple exercise from a standing position. Straighten your arms. And move them in short, circular motions for 30 seconds forward and 30 seconds back. on 3 sets.

 

3- Walking and raising the arms

Stand straight, then take a wide, sideways step to the right and as you move raise your arm up. Return to the starting position with the arm raised again. This exercise is also to warm the hamstrings, legs and arms. Do it for 30 seconds only two sets and then move on to the next exercise.

 

4- Jumping with the arms raised

Do this exercise only two sets, it is a more effective version of the previous stretching exercise and to do it. Stand straight and then jump with legs open and arms raised. Jump back to the starting position while lowering your arms and closing your legs again.

 

5- Bird – Dog . exercise

One of the best exercises to warm up the abdominal muscles and lower back, in addition to stretching the arms and legs. By sitting on all fours, extend the right hand forward as far as you can, as well as with the left leg. Lower them back to the starting position, repeating the same movement with the opposite hand and leg. 10 reps per side.

 

6- Bodyweight lunge exercise

To tighten and prepare the back and legs muscles and warm the abdominal muscles. Do the exercise by standing straight and then taking the right leg a big step, lowering your body until your left knee touches the ground. Then stand again and repeat the movement 10 repetitions of each leg.

 

Warm-up exercises tailored to the muscle

After doing the previous six warm-up exercises that target all parts of the body. It will be necessary to warm up the muscle group to be trained in the gym.

 

For example, on the day of the back exercise, it is preferable to warm up the muscle and prepare it with some stretching exercises for the back, and so on with the shoulders, legs and others.

 

1- Shoulder warm-up exercises

Shoulders are included in all exercises without exception, and it is possible to injure your shoulder in any exercise, so it is preferable to warm up the shoulder tendons before each training session, even if you will train the back or legs.

The first exercise: dumbbell shoulder press with a weak weight.

Pick up a 2.5 kg dumbbell, stand straight and raise your arms until the elbow is at shoulder height and your arm is parallel to the floor. Then push the weight up until the dumbbells touch each other.

 

Second exercise: side cable flap.

Locate a soft weight on the cable machine, stand sideways and start pulling the cable sideways for 10 repetitions.

 

The third exercise: front flapping with dumbbells

With 2.5kg dumbbells in each hand, start lifting the weights forward until your arm is parallel to the floor 10 reps, 3 sets.

 

In the same manner, do gentle exercises for each muscle before training it. For example, on the day of chest training, you can do the bench press with the bar without weights. On the day of the arm exercises, the biceps and triceps muscles must be prepared with cables with light weights, and so on in each muscle.

 

If you are now ready to start training, these exercises for every part of your body may help you in your next training session.