Outdoor Adventure Sports

Warm up before any exercise or physical activity is very essential and have a number of benefits. Performance may be improved, as an appropriate warm up will:

• Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles

• Dynamic exercises reduce muscle stiffness

• Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles

• Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because haemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures

• Facilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity

• Increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures

• Allows the heart rate get to a workable rate for beginning exercise

• Mentally focused on the training or competition

Source: brianmac.co.uk