I am asked this question a lot by clients who believe that warming up before increasing their exercise level is a complete waste of time. On the contrary, I tell them, I feel that it is the most important part of the exercise session, as a gradual warmup prepares the body and the mind for the exertion to come.
The major objective of the warmup component of any exercise session is to gradually raise your pulse rate and your body temperature and also to mobilise all your major joints. During warmup the synovial fluid that surrounds each joint increases, which means that tight joints loosen — it’s very like introducing oil into the engine of your car. Cold joints and muscles can be stiff and inflexible and if asked to perform intensively too soon, injury can easily result. If you have ever watched an Olympic sprint you will know that the athletes involved often spend between 30 and 45 minutes warming up for a race that then lasts less than 10 seconds!
It is an established fact that most of the injuries to footballers (that are not caused by impact) happen within the first five minutes of a match. The demands placed on the body playing football are great and hamstrings, thighs and calves can easily be torn if insufficiently warmed up. This is disastrous for any top-level player as recovery and rehabilitation can take months. Prevention is far better than cure in this case.
If you have any kind of physical limitation or conditions such as high blood pressure or asthma, gradual warmup is more important than ever. Hypertensives should warmup steadily and carefully for at least 10 minutes; asthmatics may take even longer as the bronchial pathways need to open gradually.
I have low-level asthma myself and try to stay away from medication if at all possible which means I have to take my warmup very seriously. On a cold day sometimes my warmup can take 20 minutes before deep breathing becomes comfortable. To try and exert myself more before getting to that stage would be foolish in my case as it would promptly trigger an asthma attack and I would have to stop exercising altogether until my breathing had eased. Usually however after 20 minutes I can increase the intensity of my exercise with no ill effects and my breathing stays comfortable and is neither tight nor painful.
So whether you are young or more mature, a new exerciser or an experienced athlete you should always build in 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of your workout for your warmup and your body will thank you for it and perform better for you.
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Warming up is so important and is stretching before. A post workout stretch is also important to minimize injury and maximise recovery