Think of your body as a large rubber band. Put that rubber band in the freezer. When that rubber band is cold/frozen, take it out and pull on it. What happens? Most likely it will snap. Take another rubber band. Set it on the table. Pick it up and pull on it. What happens? It remains pliable and elastic. Think of this as an example of how your muscles behave with and without a correctly executed warm up.
From a physiological standpoint the goal of a warm up is to prepare the body for exercise by increasing the temperature of the muscle, temperature of the whole body, increaseing blood flow and preparing the body’s connective tissues (1). A properly performed warm up has been shown to improve strength and power, improve the delivery of oxygen to muscle and reduce the risk of injury (1,2). In a study done on female athletes the warm up consisted of strength, balance, agility and elasticity exercises (2). The study saw a reduction in injuries: 62% fewer ankle sprains, 70% fewer knee sprains, 67% fewer acute lower extremity injuries. The cost-benefit of these warm ups proves to be invaluable. For relatively little to no cost you can be saving yourself from injury.
Now, for mainstream exercisers who are not athletes the same warm up standards should be followed. The last step you want to take is backwards when striving to reach your goals. Injuries can derail you from consistency. So, shape up and warm up or you could be hurting yourself.
1) Baechle, TR & Earle, RE. (2008). The Essentials of Strength Training & Conditioning. Champaign: Human Kinetics. 296-297.
2) Phend, C. Warm-Ups Score in Preventing High School Sports Injuries. MedPage Today. http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/ExerciseFitness/29512
