How To Warm Up Properly To Prevent Injury
Personal trainer John Peel is back at Total Gym Pulse here to show us how to warm up properly to prevent injury before exercise using The Total Gym home exercise machine. Warming up before any type of exercise is important for many reasons. First, proper warm up increases blood flow to the muscles. This makes the delivery of nutrients required for energy production easier. Next, warming up helps prevent injury and soreness because it prepares your muscles for the impending workload. Finally, a great benefit to warming up properly is the mental preparation it gives you for your workout.
John begins the segment by speaking to any of those who have been athletes in the past who still love to play sports. He says these warm up techniques combine stretching and strengthening at the same time to prepare you for the athletic activity ahead. The first warm up exercise John demonstrates works the hamstrings and the back. Begin by sitting with your legs straight out facing the ladder of The Total Gym. Lean forward and reach as far as you can – stretching the hamstrings. From here, start to lean up by pulling the cables toward you and make sure your core is tight. This is going to work the back.
The next warm up technique is great for golf, tennis, baseball or any “twisting” sport John says. Position yourself on your knees on the glide board of The Total Gym with both hands on the cable handles. Keep your arms straight and move them across your body creating a twisting motion. John says this exercise isn’t easy but with it you will be working your hips, abs, obliques and arms.
Finally, John ends the warm up routine with a push up mixed with some variations of yoga to help stretch the lower back. Begin by placing your feet on the floor and placing your arms in pushup position on the glide board of The Total Gym. Be sure to keep your core tight and bring your knee to your elbow on each side. Next, bring your body down into a pushup position and arch your back on the way up – this is similar to a yoga pose. Do 10-12 reps of these exercises and complete as many sets as you feel are appropriate for your upcoming activity.
We would like to thank John for joining us today on Total Gym Pulse. If you would like to learn more about Total Gym so you can do a workout similar to what you saw today, please visit Total Gym Direct. Look out for more great workouts coming from John soon!
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