We all know we have to excercise to lose weight. But, knowing it, doesn't make it any more fun! In fact, most of us dislike working out. Add in the challenges posed by our jobs and family obligations and our workout sessions quickly become a chore that we try to get through as quickly as possible.
Ok, no problem. We all feel that way from time to time. (By the way, over time our workouts DO become more enjoyable!) Anyway, in our efforts to rush through our routine and get it over with we are tempted to gloss over or even completely skip our warm-up.
Warning - disaster ahead! Don't do it. Skipping your warm up routine puts your body at risk for injury - but then you knew that. It's amazing how easily people can rationalize things away and think..."It won't happen to me" or even "Just this once won't hurt."
Even when we know it is bad for us, or even dangerous, evidence of this sort of rationalization is everywhere. Every pack of cigarettes has had a printed cancer warning for more than thirty years - but there are still tens of millions of smokers! Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer. Just look at the illicit drug industry. It's one of if not THE biggest industry in the world, yet we all know that drug abuse will eventually kill us. Not to mention that it is addictive, illegal, expensive and so on...
The point is, the thought that you can skip the warm-up "just this once" WILL occur to you. Saving some time when you excercise to lose weight is very tempting but - resist. It's extremely worthwhile to allow just a few extra minutes to warm-up and a couple minutes to cool down afterward.
Great news! Properly warming-up makes the rest of your session more effective and a little easier as well. So you don't really save anything by skipping it. When you excercise to lose weight, you'll get more benefit from each session, it'll be easier and you'll avoid injury by making it a rule to never skip the warm-up.
Fortunately your warm up doesn't have to take long or involve much effort. You can adequately do the job in a quick five minutes. It doesn't have to be boring...you can avoid falling into a rut by mixing up your moves. There are quite a few moves that work very well.
Be sure to do a complete warm up and get all of your muscles stretched and moving, even if you don't plan on working on a particular set of muscles during any given session. For example, if you're scheduled to do some weightlifting to increase your upper body strength, be sure to stretch and warm up your legs as well. Warming up is vital in any excercise to lose weight routine, whether you are working with weights or aerobic exercises.
Jumping Jacks, lunges, skipping rope and jogging are all very good options. The idea is to get the blood flowing, get moving and stretched. It doesn't need to be hard.
Stretching your various muscle groups is frequently considered as more of a cooling down strategy, but there is good reason to include stretching in your warm up as well. Plus, it can't hurt do a little extra, it can hurt not to do it at all.
If you really object to spending the time, why not try warming up before you even get to the gym? Park several blocks away from the gym and power walk the rest of the way. When given a choice, take the stairs instead of an elevator. That way, once you are ready to get going, you are well on your way to being warmed up.
Funny story...I once saw more than fifteen people waiting for an elevator to go up ONE floor to the gym. At most there were only twenty steps and the stairs were right next to the elevator! Now that I think of it, it really isn't very funny. Kinda sad actually. After all, they WERE there to get a workout. Heck, when they got off the elevator half of them went straight to the Stairmaster.
Whether you want to lose hundreds or just a couple of pounds, any excercise to lose weight routine will start slow and rapidly build in intensity. Without a warm up, this can be risky. To remain safe and injury free, give it the couple minutes that's required.
Ok, no problem. We all feel that way from time to time. (By the way, over time our workouts DO become more enjoyable!) Anyway, in our efforts to rush through our routine and get it over with we are tempted to gloss over or even completely skip our warm-up.
Warning - disaster ahead! Don't do it. Skipping your warm up routine puts your body at risk for injury - but then you knew that. It's amazing how easily people can rationalize things away and think..."It won't happen to me" or even "Just this once won't hurt."
Even when we know it is bad for us, or even dangerous, evidence of this sort of rationalization is everywhere. Every pack of cigarettes has had a printed cancer warning for more than thirty years - but there are still tens of millions of smokers! Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer. Just look at the illicit drug industry. It's one of if not THE biggest industry in the world, yet we all know that drug abuse will eventually kill us. Not to mention that it is addictive, illegal, expensive and so on...
The point is, the thought that you can skip the warm-up "just this once" WILL occur to you. Saving some time when you excercise to lose weight is very tempting but - resist. It's extremely worthwhile to allow just a few extra minutes to warm-up and a couple minutes to cool down afterward.
Great news! Properly warming-up makes the rest of your session more effective and a little easier as well. So you don't really save anything by skipping it. When you excercise to lose weight, you'll get more benefit from each session, it'll be easier and you'll avoid injury by making it a rule to never skip the warm-up.
Fortunately your warm up doesn't have to take long or involve much effort. You can adequately do the job in a quick five minutes. It doesn't have to be boring...you can avoid falling into a rut by mixing up your moves. There are quite a few moves that work very well.
Be sure to do a complete warm up and get all of your muscles stretched and moving, even if you don't plan on working on a particular set of muscles during any given session. For example, if you're scheduled to do some weightlifting to increase your upper body strength, be sure to stretch and warm up your legs as well. Warming up is vital in any excercise to lose weight routine, whether you are working with weights or aerobic exercises.
Jumping Jacks, lunges, skipping rope and jogging are all very good options. The idea is to get the blood flowing, get moving and stretched. It doesn't need to be hard.
Stretching your various muscle groups is frequently considered as more of a cooling down strategy, but there is good reason to include stretching in your warm up as well. Plus, it can't hurt do a little extra, it can hurt not to do it at all.
If you really object to spending the time, why not try warming up before you even get to the gym? Park several blocks away from the gym and power walk the rest of the way. When given a choice, take the stairs instead of an elevator. That way, once you are ready to get going, you are well on your way to being warmed up.
Funny story...I once saw more than fifteen people waiting for an elevator to go up ONE floor to the gym. At most there were only twenty steps and the stairs were right next to the elevator! Now that I think of it, it really isn't very funny. Kinda sad actually. After all, they WERE there to get a workout. Heck, when they got off the elevator half of them went straight to the Stairmaster.
Whether you want to lose hundreds or just a couple of pounds, any excercise to lose weight routine will start slow and rapidly build in intensity. Without a warm up, this can be risky. To remain safe and injury free, give it the couple minutes that's required.
About the Author:
Dan Beckwith is an author and geek who has spent the time and effort to weight loss research - so you don't have to. For more information on a "diet to lose belly fat" or to get a free subscription to his "Fast Weight Loss Tips" mini-course, go over to his website right now! There are tons of terrific articles too!
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