fitness fundamentals - the importance of warming up
Our next topic in our Fitness Fundamentals series focuses on the why and how of the warmup. Even for those of us who want to jump right into the workout, the warmup is very important, and it should never be overlooked. According to the American Heart Association, warming up before cardiovascular exercise widens our blood vessels, ensuring that our muscles are well supplied with oxygen, and this helps our heart to be safer during the workout. Warming up also raises our muscles’ temperature, helping us achieve our best flexibility and muscle efficiency, not to mention preventing injury and after-exercise soreness. It’s also important to remember that by slowly raising our heart rate, the warmup helps to minimize the stress placed on the heart. The American Heart Association also encourages us to warm up because the increased workload placed on the heart gradually, enables the heart to step up to the challenge safely and this shows to improve our exercise performance – think better, faster, stronger! And as if these reasons aren’t enough, warming up also activates the nervous system, improving coordination and reaction time. It also mentally prepares us for the workout, boosting focus and motivation.
In your Body & Soul® workouts, the warmup is built in for you, but here are some general tips for when you are working out on your own:
- Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes. The more intense the activity, the longer the warmup.
- Do whatever activity you plan on doing such as running, walking, or cycling at a slower pace.
- Use your entire body by moving your arms and your legs during your warmup.
- In general, it’s recommended that you focus on large muscle groups first, such as your hamstrings.
- Begin at a low, slow pace that builds in speed and intensity. This is called a dynamic warmup, like what you experience in a Body & Soul® class.
by Amy Stafford
Panama City Beach, FL
Amy Stafford is the President of Body & Soul® Fitness, Certified Personal Trainer, ACE faculty and ACE Group Fitness Instructor. She is a leader in the fitness industry and is a popular speaker for women's events, retreats, fitness conferences. For information on booking Amy for your event or for an interview please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Amy currently resides in the Panama City Beach, FL area and teaches virtually.Body and Soul® Fitness is an international Christian fitness organization that trains and equips instructors to lead a variety of group fitness programs including choreographed aerobics-style Cardio Strength & Flexibility™, cardio dance style Dance Blast™, free-weights-focused Power Strength™, boot camp style FIT360™ and Longevity FIT360™, and GOLD™ - lower impact programming for participants that are pregnant, have weight challenges, injuries, or other medical conditions. These exercise classes meet in church gyms, community centers, gymnasiums, parking lots, schools, etc. across the United States, Europe, and Africa. In-person and virtual fitness classes are available.
Key words: Christian fitness, women's exercise classes, group fitness, dance aerobics classes, Christian group fitness, Christian fitness app, FitTV, Body & Soul, Body and Soul, fitness instuctor training, low impact exercise
