How to warm up before walking?
Warming up is essential before swimming. Even if it is not swimming, there are probably very few people who do not know that warming up before exercising is important. So what about walking? Do you think you don't need a warm-up because you're just walking? Ding! It's not like that.
Of course, if you only walk with a little awareness in your daily life, it may be difficult to even prepare for warm-up exercises. However, if you at least wear walking shoes and set out to do proper walking exercise, warming up before walking is a must. So what warm-up exercises should you do before walking?
Warming up helps to increase blood circulation, increase blood supply, and make muscles more flexible, thus reducing the risk of injury.
Warm-up refers to the process of gradually bringing our body into a state suitable for exercise before starting physical activity or full-scale exercise. In English, it is called ‘warm-up’.
Warming up helps get your heart rate up and gives your joints time to prepare. Breathing and blood circulation become active, which increases blood supply and makes muscles more flexible, thus reducing the risk of injury. According to the results of a meta-analysis published in the medical journal Cureus in June 2022, exercises such as stretching, strengthening, and agility training were found to help reduce the risk of lower extremity injuries in athletes.
Simple bare-hand exercises and light stretching are appropriate warm-up exercises before walking. About 5 to 10 minutes is enough. There is absolutely no need for grandiose or difficult exercises.
1. Standing leg bend and pull: Bend your knees back, grab your ankles with your hands, and pull until you feel a stiffness in the front of your thighs. Stretch both sides alternately for about 10 to 15 seconds.
2. Standing and bending the upper body: Stand with your toes close together and slowly bend your upper body to grab your toes. Keep your knees bent, breathing naturally, and hold for about 10 seconds.
3. Slowly rotate the neck, shoulders, waist, knees, ankles, etc.: Turn the neck and waist in a large circle and lightly hold the shoulders with your hands. Bring your toes and both knees together and slowly rotate them with your hands on your knees. Rotate your ankles from the inside out and from the outside in. Turn left and right alternately, and for ankles, repeat alternately with both feet.
4. Push and pull your toes: If you are in an environment where you can sit on the floor, sit with your legs straight and repeat pushing your toes for 10 seconds and pulling them for 10 seconds.
People of all ages can do national gymnastics.
Effective warm-up exercise that allows you to move your whole body
How about trying the national gymnastics as a warm-up exercise, which is a representative bare-handed gymnastics that emerged in the 1970s and can be easily performed by people of all ages? National gymnastics allows you to move your entire body evenly with a total of 12 movements, including walking in place, legs, arms, neck, chest, sides, back, torso, whole body, legs, limbs, and finally taking a breath. Not only does it warm up your body before walking, but it also has many health benefits, including improving stamina, strengthening muscles, and increasing flexibility to prevent the risk of joint disease or injury.
Now, you know the importance of warm-up exercise and the fact that walking exercise also requires a warm-up, right? Be sure to do simple stretching or national exercises before walking to increase exercise effectiveness and ensure safe, injury-free walking!