A Thinking Man's Guide to "The Warm Up"

What is a warm up?

Many people understand a warm up to be stretching to loosen the muscles.  In reality warming up really is just that, this misunderstanding has led to injuries with average exercisers and high level athletes.

A muscle can be seen as a rubber band, which can stretch several times beyond its resting  length and then pull back to its original size.  If that rubber band were put in a freezer (inactivity) then taken out, when you tried to stretch it, it would most likely snap.

The purpose of an effective warm up is to warm up that rubber band that that it has the elasticity to move.

Another way to think about this is starting your car.  If it has been a few days since you have driven or you live in a colder climate you will let it set and idle for a bit.  The oil, usually described as a car’s life blood, is thick and viscous when the engine is cold.  As the car warms ups the oil gets thinner, more fluid, and moves through the system more easily.

Not letting the engine idle can mean it clogging out just when you are about to accelerate into traffic. Bad thing.  Warming up your muscles, tendons and joints before regular exercise is the idling time your body needs to get it’s fluids…well fluid, so that it does not clog out when you begin your routine.

An additional value of a smart generalized warm up routine is that it does not have to be done JUST before a workout.  Ideally it could be done several times a day for the same purpose, keep that rubber band lose and functional, keep the fluids circulating.

We train to be better at life. The more you marry the two, using one to assist the learning of the other, the stronger you will be for it body and mind.

If you need help with program design you can contact me at

Fitnessnexus@yahoo.com

All the best,

Steve

The Long List Use it or lose it

      "Use it or lose it"

It's a common enough refrain.  We hear it in the gym often enough, and even in "The real world"

It's pretty obvious on first blush.  Don't use your legs, they get weaker, weak enough and you can't walk.  Same for any body part you care to name.

I would like all of you (especially you who are standing in the back) to take just a few minutes so ask yourself where else could you apply that phrase.  In the gym and out.

If you have read my previous post you already have one answer, now I challenge you to take that axiom beyond it's normal bounds.  Actually the ability to "think outside the box" is an example of this.  The less we do it the less we are able to do it, conversely the more we challenge our mental status quo the more skilled we get at it.

Alright, the gauntlet is thrown,  I want to know what YOU came up with.

Physics and Chemistry

An object in motion stays in motion.  An object at rest stays at rest.

It hardly seems fair but there you are.  When you don't move it's easy to not move. When you do get moving it's easy to stay moving.

So, insofar as getting moving, working out, taking care of yourself (and by association your loved ones) The first step is an uphill battle.

That would be the bad news..Darn Physics !!

But here's the good news...

We aren't just objects, we are living, adaptable beings that nature has spent tens of thousands of years designing and redesigning to overcome physics.  In particular..Endorphins.

Often referred to as the "feel good hormone" endorphins kick in during a workout, if we hit a certain intensity, and usher in pain relief and a sense of well being.  This is nature's reward for us fighting the laws of physics.

Nature however is a multitasker.  The endorphins do more than just make you feel better and elevate you mood and outlook.  The cascade effect causes positive physiological changes throughout the body making muscles denser, skin more elastic, brain activity more acute.

The domino effect of the injection of endorphins into the system which in turn releases other hormones helps to regulate blood pressure, sugar, and LDL.  In short it's like a mini tune up.  We all know that cars need regular tune ups to run well and increase their life expectancy.  Imagine how well a car would run if it got a tune up everyday, not just every three thousand miles.

Give yourself a daily tune up.  Come to EXPECT your daily dose of endorphins and let chemistry trump physics