Saturday, October 10, 2009

Don't just warm up.....Get Moving!!

Dynamic Warm-Up

Gone are the days of walking on a treadmill and static stretching before exercise or some sort of sport or activity. Research shows us that although static stretching is still great for increasing range of motion, it is also great at shutting down our nervous system. That is not so great when we are getting ready to exercise or engage in some form of athletic event! We need are bodies to be alert, we need our blood to be flowing strongly to the muscle, the muscles need to be loosened up, wide awake, and ready to produce at the top of their game!

What our bodies need is a good dynamic, movement based warm-up prior to activity. The Dynamic Warm-up is a warm-up routine that improves flexibility, cardiovascular
readiness, and the level of neural excitation. A dynamic warm-up can be very specific to an activity, such as movements that will simulate the activities of playing tennis, or more general to help you prepare for a good calorie burning full body workout. What's great about a dynamic warm-up is that a properly performed dynamic warm-up will give you the benefits of increasing your heart rate and circulation like you might do on a treadmill, at the same time you will be increasing your range of motion to help prevent injury just like you would do with flexibility training! As a matter of fact, according to research by Fredrick and Szymanski when performed before, during, and after an exercise routine or sports performance the dynamic warm-up has been shown to decrease post-activity soreness as well as increase power production by 20% in addition to improved flexibility. The routine can be used as a way to increase recovery after and in between workouts.

I am in the process of making a video of these movements. In the mean time click the link below for my picture presentation:

Dynamic Warm up Pictures.... http://www.mtsfitness.com/uploads/Dynamic_warmup-members_compress.pdf

Enjoy! and get ready to sweat!

Keep Moving,
Scott

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"Life Is Motion"

"Life Is Motion"
Turkish Get Up