Hold up... Until you warm up

Are you warming up with a couple stationary toe touches and a lap around the track? If so, then you may not know the full benefits of a proper warm up. Warming up before any exercise, stimulates all of your body by allowing fluids to flow through your muscles and joints. A proper warm up will help maximize your workout and reduce the likelihood of any future injuries. Dynamic stretching can be utilized in all sports, and is used to propel your muscles in a extended range of motion greater then achieved from traditional static stretching. According to Runners world, "Avoid static stretching i.e. holding stretches for a period of time. Although it may seem counter intuitive, the goal of a running warm up is to warm the muscle, increase circulation and prepare the muscles to be on point to fire. Static stretching targets the muscle to relax, and impairs their ability to store energy." When weight lifting, make sure you do a warm up set with very light weights. Adding in a proper warm up set will allow your body to get used to the movement and form of the exercise. Next time you are headed to the gym, make sure you take some extra time to properly warm up your muscles.