What Is a Warm-up?
Think of your warm-up as a preliminary exercise that's a regular part of your training session. Your warm-up is a crucial part of your workout routine for many reasons. This stage of preparation is meant to prepare your body to meet the demands that are about to be placed on it during your workout or training session.
A warm-up does more than just prepare your muscles for a workout. Warming up should be seen holistically as a way to bring your muscles, cardiovascular system, and the rest of your body (as well as your mind) to a state of readiness for your workout.
Coaches, trainers, and athletes, at all levels of competition, preach the importance of a proper warm-up. The need for a warm-up is not restricted to physical (physiological) purposes. Whether or not you warm up before your session can have mental (psychological) ramifications as well.
Physiological refers to what is going on inside of your body whenever you begin to exercise. The term also refers to how the multiple systems of your body are affected by the increase in physical activity.
Your heart and breathing rates will and should increase with any physical activity. Warming up will give your lungs and heart a chance to get moving before more serious exertion is placed upon them. This prepares parts of your physiological system and ensures efficient, safe functions for your heart, blood vessels, lungs, joints, and muscles for the activity that is to follow.
There are also psychological issues to think about as you are warming up. Athletes and competitors at all levels of competition, from recreational to Olympic caliber, often feel that practicing some sort of skill-related activity before competing in an event helps to mentally prepare them. Such mental preparation helps them to perform better at the moment of truth. Whether you are training for a specific athletic event or just getting ready for a jog, mentally preparing yourself to train is essential in achieving a positive state of mind.
Krav Maga movements require accuracy, timing, and precision. These movements require mental concentration and focus. For most Krav Maga students, practicing exercise movements related to the activity that follows has been proven beneficial in improving their skill and coordination for punching, kicking, and putting together striking combinations.
