The length of your warm-up determines how thick the synovial fluid is that acts as a shock absorber for your joints.
How long do I warm up? 3-5 minutes should do it for most of us. Pregnant women need to warm up for a longer period of time because they produce less synovial fluid. If you are expecting, shoot for the full 5 minutes. Skipping your warm up can not only put you at greater risk for injury, but also make your workout less effective.
An effective warm up can be as simple as a march in place, or brisk walk. A full aerobic warm up is great if you're preparing for a cardio and strength workout such as StrollerFit. Runners and walkers will benefit from moving joints and reminding them of their full range of motion. High knees marching, swinging straight legs forward and back, doing quick calf raises will warm up the legs and hips. The upper body needs some warm up too: swing arms with bent elbows, straight arms and from shoulder to shoulder.
Whatever you chose, get
that heart rate up and move those joints before adding in weight, resistance or any jarring movement. Now get out there and move mamas!
This is great and such immportant stuff! I hope it's okay if I link to this post in an email I'm sending out to my Challenge moms.
ReplyDelete