“Warm-ups” are probably one of the most highly debated components of injury reduction. Most Physiotherapists, Personal Trainers, and Coaches, firmly believe in a good warm up, but you might be surprised to know that there have only been five studies in the past 40 years that look at the injury reduction benefits of warming up.
Even allowing for the lack of research material, we still suggest that you undertake a thorough warm-up before performing exercise.
A basic warm up should:
• Be of 5-20 minutes duration.
• Include general activity to increase basic body temperature followed by some more specific range of motion stretching that replicates the events to follow. i.e leg swings to replicate kicking.
• Include a series of balance related activities to ensure your sensory receptors are prepared for the tasks to follow.
• Consist of gradually increasing intensity becoming more specific and “game like” as the training sessions or game approaches.
Here at Cannington Physiotherapy we are lucky to have some very experienced physiotherapists who have dealt with a variety of sporting teams and working conditions. So if you need help with your warm-up for a big sporting event or just a hard day’s work we are always happy to help.