What happens when…
Like hand-washing your knitwear and flossing every time you brush your teeth, you know you should stretch, but do you? Here’s the cold, hard truth about not warming up
01 Bring the heat
Some like it hot – and by some, we mean muscles. ‘A warm-up does exactly that,’ says exercise physiologist Tom Cowan. ‘It raises the temperature of the working muscles, which, studies show, improves high-intensity exercise performance.’ Active heating – warming your muscles through movement – helps you generate more force and make better use of muscle glycogen. Passive heating – eg, via a heat pad – has some impact, but won’t offer the full range of benefits. Get warm for the win.
02 Go with the flow
Flow: it’s not just for yoga. Blood-flow management is a key component of warming up. At rest, your muscles receive about 20% of your blood flow, with most directed to organs. During all-out exercise, over 80% of your blood can be directed to working muscles, says Cowan. Go in cold and your body has to quickly make circulatory and metabolic adjustments. ‘Research also suggests active warm-ups can lead to less reliance on anaerobic energy systems,’ he adds. That could mean less fatigue-inducing muscle acidity.
03 Have some heart
You wouldn’t inflict high-BPM music on your waking brain. But your body is sensitive to BPM, too. ‘Going from 60 beats per minute to 120 is a big jump in workload for your heart,’ says Cowan. This is combined with an increase in blood pressure, another side effect of exercise. A steady rise in both through a graduated warm-up – rather than a sudden spike by d
