Warming Up Benefits for Young Athletes

Have you ever wondered why Wali and other iguanas love to bask in the sun? Iguanas are known as cold-blooded animals because their bodies do not generate heat. Wali and his friends bask in the sun to acquire the warmth they need for their bodies to function properly. Iguanas also love to lie on the rocks and roads which have been warmed up by the sun. Warming the body is also very important to young athletes, just like you. Instead of warming on the rocks and roads, young athletes do warm-up activities. All young athletes need to understand that warming up before practice or the main game provides many benefits to every player and the team as a whole.

Warming Up Increases Performance

After basking in the sun on a warm rock, Wali can jump very high and also run very fast because warming up the body increases performance. Warming up before practice or a sporting activity enables young athletes to perform at their best in the field or track. Warm-ups prepare the body by increasing the temperature of the body. This is important because a cold body cannot function properly, which means you cannot play very well when your body has not warmed up. To prepare the body for sporting activity, the cold should be removed by warming up. We also need to be motivated and focused on the game for us to play at our best. Warming up increases focus and motivation by enabling mental preparedness, which means making the brain or mind ready for practice or the main game.

Young athletes who play sports that require using their hands need to have shoulder muscles that are strong but very flexible. When you throw or strike a ball, you sling your arm as fast as you can, but you have to stop your arm suddenly. You can increase the strength of your muscles by warming up before practice or the game. Warming up increases blood flow into your muscles, which brings more oxygen and nutrients into the muscles, making them very strong. Also, you require very flexible muscles to stop your arm at the end of a throw or strike. You are warming up increases the flexibility of the muscles, which enables the muscles to contract very quickly when you sling your arm and relax very fast when you need to stop the arm.

In cricket, baseball, golf, hockey, and tennis, players require flexible muscles that contract quickly for them to hit the ball farthest. Also, players of these sports need flexible muscles that contract and relax quickly for them to run after the ball and make a sudden stop when they reach the ball. Hitting the ball with a racket, bat, or club requires players to have the very strong but flexible muscle to swing very quickly and stop the swing suddenly when they hit the ball. You can only make your muscles strong but flexible by warming up before you play.

Warming Up Reduces the Risk of Injury

After basking in the sun on a warm road, Wali can jump, turn, and run very fast without getting injured. Warming up reduces the risk of tearing or injuring muscles of young athletes. Playing basketball requires players to shoot, jump, turn, and run very fast. The most important muscles for young basketball players include shoulder muscles, calves, hip flexors, hamstrings, and abs. These muscles are usually very stiff when they are cold. This means you can tear or injure your calves if you jump to shoot a hoop before warming up the muscles. Warming up increases the temperature of the muscles, which reduces stiffness and increases flexibility. Runners, football, and soccer players also need flexible joints for you to make quick and accurate turns as they run around the track or run on the field with the ball. Warming up increases the range of motion of the joints, which means that your joints will be more flexible and enable you to make quick turns.

Benefits of Warming Up for the Team

Football, basketball, cricket, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, rugby, and soccer are all team sports. This means each player needs to play at their best for their team to win. Warming up as a team is very important because it ensures that each player is warmed up and ready to play at their best. Also, a strong team needs all of its players on the field to win games. Warming up reduces the risk of injury, ensuring that all players are always available for the games.

Reference

⦁ Animal Planet. “Green Iguanas: The Basics.” http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/other-pets/greeniguanas/
⦁ Owen Walker. “Warm-Ups.” Science for Sport. http://www.scienceforsport.com/warm-ups/
⦁ Hitoshi Shitara et al. “Shoulder Stretching Intervention Reduces the Incidence of Shoulder Elbow Injuries in High School Baseball Players: a Time-to-Event Analysis.” NCBI, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366891/