Warm-Ups
A simple rule of thumb states that whatever the exercise, always start with a good warm-up. It might seem like a drag when your time limited but it is unquestionably beneficial in the long- run. Recent research shows that warming up enables you to exercise for longer, and makes exercise easier and greatly reduces injury risk. So do not plunge straight into your exercise routine.
Take ten or fewer minutes (depends on the intensity of the workouts to come) of gentle and rhythmic movements, mimicking the activity that you are about to do but at low intensity. It helps to get your joints, muscles, tendons, and minds ready for the activity to come as you gradually speed up your heart rate. It also encourages more blood flow to the working muscles.
GRADUAL PROGRESSION.
- Getting fitter puts some stress on the body, it needs time to adapt to physical activity.
- We must learn to introduce new loads, forces, or movements gradually at low volumes in the beginning.
- The temptation to slap on the heavy plates and lift bigger and heavier when we step into the gym is great, but doing too much, too soon is likely to increases the chances of injury.
- Always look at a workout as an opportunity to see how well we can move, lift, flex, and coordinate ourselves.
- We need to foster a state of mind that makes exercising, productive, usable, and interesting by thinking into it.
Do not pressure yourself to achieve the impossible in a short time you may be disappointed. An injury can seriously curtail earlier gains and your path to fitness success.
Feel Fitness Center.
TECHNIQUE
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The whole idea behind challenging ourselves is to dig deeper, push further, jump higher – No Pain, No Gain, right? Yet, we need to focus more on: – Are you lifting smoothly or simply jerking and shoving the weight just to get the repetition done?”
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There is absolutely no use trying to lift any sort of weight if you did not understand and employ the correct technique.
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A good fitness instructor will take you through proper mechanics/technique (know-how) of training.
FLEXIBILITY.
- Flexibility is such an important fitness component to possess and can be achieved by stretching the warm muscles at the end of your workout.
- If short of time after your workout, concentrate just on stretching the muscle groups that you exercised.
- Keenly look at a youngster’s naturally free and undistorted movement as they roll, crawl or fall. It is due to their great flexibility, and a lower center of gravity, that they can fall, crawl, and roll millions of times without the fear of an injury.
- It is the same for our sportspeople, the fitter and more flexible the less the risk of injuries due to a good range of motion around the joints.
COOL-DOWNS
- Swimmers would need a back and shoulder stretch as a cyclist or runner would require a lower body stretch more.
- Always stretch at the end of your workout while your muscles are still warm.
- Cooldowns are essential as they help them stretch and they will feel less sore after your workout. They help blood flow back to the extremities as the body cools back to normal temperatures.
In our quest to improve our bodies, we will be bombarded by the huge variety of sources about the latest, newest, greatest and the very best way to improve our bodies. We should always use these opportunities to better ourselves not hurt. You may decide to slam on the brakes! Pop the clutch! Cruise if you wish and fail to look in the mirror as you change your lanes…is all up to you. All that, will contribute to the smooth running of your vehicle and ultimately the quality of the ride. Getting injuries might cause a set- back and make you feel like a failure. However, you can avoid them with a good warm up, gradual progression, proper technique, flexibility and cooling down. Enjoy your ride but INJURE NOT! We need everyone on our mission towards a healthy community.