Kung Fu Kendra
🇨🇦​ Canada's Top Fitness Trainer
Warmup Exercises
Warmups
Warmups are important because they prepare your body for working out and moving around. Preparing each joint is a good idea so that you can easily do your workout without injury. Warmups are also important because they help the flow of blood circulate throughout the body and allow the heart rate to increase gradually. There are many warmup exercises that we will be going over and will be added to this blog periodically and regularly.
The above video explains warmup exercises.
Neck Warm Up
The first thing you want do is place your arms behind your back and have your feet shoulder width apart - sinking into your knees with a slight induction in your knees. Relaxing and breathing slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Now you're going to move the head side to side and make sure your breathing. From here, bring the head forward again moving the head up-and-down, chin to the chest and back. Now move the head side to side and bring the head forward the head ear to shoulder.
Neck Side to Side
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Place arms behind back.
- Move neck side to side gently.
Neck Ear to Shoulder
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Place arms behind back.
- Move neck ear to shoulder.
Neck Up and Down
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Place arms behind back.
- Move neck up and down.
Arms and Shoulders Warm Up
Next in the warmup will be arms and the shoulders. You want to release the hands from behind the back circle and circle the arms forward. Make sure the palms are wide-open and your hands are crossing over each time in the centre of your body.
Make sure your crossing hands through the middle and reaching up and down across the chest. Open the palms on the extension and alternating, each side. Taking your hands, interlock in the fingers on the back and stretch out. Stretch the arms out.
Arms Swinging Across Chest
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Swing arms across chest, opening the palms on the outward extension.
- Repeat and be gentle with your body.
Arms Swinging Up and Down
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Swing arms up and down.
- Repeat and be gentle with your body.
Arms Circling Forward
- Keep feet shoulder width apart.
- Swing arms forward, hands crossing over in front.
- Repeat and be gentle with your body.
Hip Warm Up
For the hips, place the feet shoulder width apart and place the hands on the hips, rotate the hips.
This is what we call hip rotations. Its important to keep your head as still as possible and imagine your hips, rotating around your head.
Hip Rotations
- Place hands on the hips and have feet slightly larger than shoulder width apart.
- Circle hips while keeping head as still as possible.
- Repeat 10 rotations, then switch directions.
Knee Warm Up
Next in the warmup of the Home Workout, we move to the knees. Place your hands on your knee caps and rotate to the left. Do this for 10 rotations. Switch directions and rotate the kneecaps to the right. Do this for 10 rotations. Now bend at the knees - up and down, in and out and up and down again. Repeat 10 times. Knowing your knees and being in touch with where your knees are, as odd as that sounds, will prepare you for the Abs Workout in the next blog as we will be covering 3 different knee/leg level positions.
Knee Rotations
- Place hands on the knees.
- Bend knees slightly.
- Circle the knees in one direction, then switch directions.
Knees in and Out
- Place hands on the knees.
- Bend knees slightly.
- Circle knees in and out, then switch directions.
Knees Up and Down
- Place hands on the knees.
- Bend knees slightly.
- Bend knees up and down.
Ankle Warm Up
The next part of the warmup is the ankle rotations. Standing up nice and tall, place the hands behind the back and circle the ankle.
You want to make sure that you're circling on the ball of your foot and heel will rotate in a circle. Repeat 20 times and then switching feet.
Ankle Rotations
- Place hands behind back.
- Extend one leg out and circle the ankle on the ball of the foot.
- Switch directions, switch feet and repeat.
Benefits of Warmups
There are many benefits to warming up before a workout. The warm up involves doing exercises and dynamic stretches at a lower intensity and slower pace, which improves your athletic performance while preparing your muscles and joints for your exercise or workout. A warm up also prevents injuries, and helps with recovery from previous exercises. As discussed above, warm ups can be dynamic stretches or they can also be a light jog, cycling slowly on a bike, brisk walking, and a slow paced swim among many things. Another important benefit of warming up before exercise is it prepares your cardiovascular system for physical activity by increasing the blood flow to your muscles and raising the overall temperature of your body. It also helps to lower the risk of getting injured — when your muscles are adequately warmed up the movements, stretches, and strain you put on them during your workout is less severe. This also minimizes muscle soreness.
From an important health perspective, a thorough warm-up before a workout dilates your blood vessels while ensurring your muscles are supplied with oxygen. Warming up prepares the temperature of your muscles therefore creating an enviornment for optimal flexibility and efficiency. By slowly raising your heart rate (as opposed to fast), the warm-up helps minimize stress on your heart. Warming up prevents injuries by stretching and loosening the joints, and improving the flow of blood to your muscles. This will help prevent ripped muscles, tendon tears, and harmful twists during your workout.
Aside from the physical benefits, the warmup is also good for the mind because it allows you time before a workout or sport activity to prepare your body mentally and feel a deeper sense of confidence and mind body connection to what you are about to be doing. Not only will your joints, heart, muscles and mind benefit from a warm up, it will also prepare the core and abs (which is very important because it is the center of your body and holds all the pieces together)