UNIT 1 THE WARM-UP

What’s a warm-up? A warm-up is a gentle, slow exercise at the beginning of a workout which prepares muscles, the heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature for physical activity

Before doing any physical activities or sports, you must have a warm-up session.

AND COOL DOWN AFTERWARDS ALWAYS WARM-UP FIRST AND COOL DOWN AFTERWARDS

Why? Warm-up – gradually gets your body ready for the training. There are three main reasons

It increases the temperature of your body, and increases blood flow to the muscles.

2) It stretches the muscles and moves the joints so you are ready for the job, and less likely to injure yourself.

3) It concentrates the mind on the training or sport.

You should warm up your cardiovascular system first. Do some gentle exercise like jogging, until you are out of breath. Then stretch.

THE MAIN BENEFITS OF A PROPER WARM-UP 1. Increased muscle temperature. A warmed muscle both contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly.

2. Increased body temperature. This improves muscle elasticity, also reducing the risk of strains and pulls.

3. Blood vessels dilate. This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lowers stress on the heart.

4. Improved range of motion. The range of motion around a joint is increased.

5. Mental preparation

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE WARM-UP TOTALITY: you should warm up all parts of your body: arms, legs, trunk and neck. SPECIFITY: chose the exercises depending on the physical activity you are going to do later. PROGRESSION: steadily increase the intensity and difficulty of the exercises. TIME: the warm-up tends to last for ten minutes or longer.

PARTS OF THE GENERAL WARM-UP 1) Aerobic activity 2) Adaptation: Join Movements Stretching 3) Culmination

Aerobic activity. You should engage in at least five minutes of aerobic activity such as jogging, jumping rope,walking fast or running exercises or any other activity that will cause a similar increase in your cardiovascular output (i.e., get your blood pumping).

2) Adaptation: Joint movements. Move or rotate your joints, starting either from your toes and working your way up, or from your fingers and working your way down.

You should move the following joints (in the order given, or in the reverse order): fingers wrists elbows shoulders neck trunk/waist hips knees ankles toes

Stretching You should engage in some slow, relaxed, static stretching. Hold each stretching exercise for 20-30 seconds.

You should stretch the following muscles sides (external obliques) neck forearms and wrists triceps chest (pectoralis major) buttocks (gluteus) groin (adductors) thighs (quadriceps and abductors) calves (gastrocnemius and soleus) shins (tibialis anterior) hamstrings (rectus femoris)

3) Culmination To reach upward the heart rate and finish in an optimal point to start the specific physical activity, through exercises of speed or small game or through progressive race or small accelerations.

Your warm-up should last for 10 to 15 minutes. Finally Your warm-up should last for 10 to 15 minutes.