There are steps you can follow in order to prevent injuries when you are exercising. Warming up helps circulate the blood and oxygen to your muscle and joints to prepare the body for exercise. If you do not warm up properly, you can suffer some serious injuries. This is a very common and at the same time this is how you get injured. Damaged muscles can take days to repair themselves. Here are some steps you can take to avoid exercise injuries.
Warm up
Sometimes a warm up can seem redundant – won’t your body warm up anyway after you’ve been working out for a few minutes? Yes, but warming up first can help loosen your muscles and joints before you get into the higher intensity workouts, which is when most injuries happen. Though it may seem like a waste of time, but make warming up a priority in your workout routine.
You can warm up by doing some light cardio (e.g. walking) before a cardio or weight training session. Five minutes is usually good enough to get your body ready for exercise; if you have any medical conditions, such as asthma, a 10 minute warm up may be right for you.
Cool down
Cooling down and stretching your muscles after a workout is just as important as a proper warm up. A
few minutes of stepping down your intensity gradually and then gently stretching out the muscle groups you just worked can go a long way in preventing soreness and strain. This applies no matter what kind of workout you do, everything from running to aerobics to cycling to weight training.