New Life Ministries

1. Enhances your speed and strength. Proper exercise warm-ups increase the muscle temperature of the muscles that are used during the warm-up routine. This temperature increase causes the warmed muscle to contract more forcefully and relax more quickly resulting in greater speed and strength.

2. Reduced injury. Regular warm-ups and cool down exercises decrease the probability of overstretching a muscle.

3. Improves muscle elasticity. Proper warm-ups cause the body temperature to rise improving muscle elasticity. Improved muscle elasticity reduces the risk of strains and muscle pulls.

4. Lower stress on the heart. Your blood vessels begin to dilate during exercise warm-ups. This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lowers stress on your heart.

5. Helps prevent overheating early in an event or race. Warm-ups allow for efficient sweating in the body mechanisms. This enables an athlete to cool efficiently and helps prevent overheating.

6. Greater endurance and performance. Warming up properly increases the temperature of your blood as it travels through the muscles. As the blood temperature rises, the amount of oxygen it can hold decreases making more oxygen available to the working muscles. Having more oxygen available enhances your endurance and overall performance.

7. Improves your range of motion. Since proper warm-ups improve your muscle elasticity, the range of motion around the body joints is increased.

8. Clears the mind and increases focus. The warm-up is a good time to mentally prepare for an event or your day. You can use this time to provide yourself with positive imagery and build concentration for your exercise regime.

9. Overall improved performance. Since a proper warm-up increases the blood flow to the working muscle, muscle stiffness is decreased and overall performance enhanced.