Not warming up before exercise? Here are 3 possible effects

Like sports? Don't forget to warm up first. Many people say that it is very important to warm up before exercise. If not, you are more at risk of injury during sports. In addition, warming up before exercise is also useful for improving your performance during sports.

Indeed, what exactly happens to your body when you warm up? Why is it so important?

What is heating?

As the name implies, warming up is an activity that is done before exercise to help increase your body temperature. This helps prepare the body or make it adapt to the sport you are about to do, so that the body doesn't "shock" during exercise.

Warming up can help speed up your heart rate and breathing, so that the blood flow that is rich in nutrients and oxygen that your muscles need when exercising can flow smoothly. A good warm-up session lasts 5-10 minutes

Activities you do when you warm up are the ones that get all the major muscle groups moving, such as cardiovascular exercise combined with stretching. Cardiovascular exercise can help improve blood circulation, raise body temperature, and increase heart rate. Meanwhile, stretching exercises are carried out to prepare the muscles before exercising. You can do a spot walk while swinging your arms for a simple warm-up.

What is the effect of not warming up before exercise?

Not warming up before exercising can cause injury. These injuries can range from mild to severe. Not only that, not warming up before exercise can also result in other things that are detrimental to you, such as the following.

1. Increases the risk of injury

How did the injury happen? Injury to a muscle can occur when the muscle is put under too much stress, usually when it is stretched under stress such as when lowering a heavy load. Injuries can occur because a muscle doesn't produce enough force to support itself or because the muscle doesn't contract at the right time to perform certain movements.

This can be caused because the blood flowing to the muscles does not provide the energy for the muscles to carry out their activities. Why so? Not enough to warm up before exercise can result in less blood flow to the muscles, so that the muscles are not ready to provide energy for movements when you exercise.

2. Lowered performance

Warming up can help prepare your body slowly before exercise. This can gradually increase blood circulation and heart rate, so that the joints loosen and the blood flow that the muscles receive is increased. This makes your body more ready to exercise, the energy reserves in the muscles are more available to support the muscles during exercise. So that your performance when doing sports can be more awake.

It's different if you don't warm up before exercising. You may feel tired more quickly, which can reduce your performance while exercising.

3. You are not ready to do sports

From a mental perspective, people who don't warm up are usually less ready to do sports, especially those that are strenuous or that are done for a long time. Warming up is a great opportunity for you to prepare yourself mentally before a sports match. Besides increasing blood flow to muscles and joints, heating also increases blood flow to the brain, which helps in improving focus and alertness during exercise.