Warming up before exercise prepares your body for activity by slightly increasing your heart rate, which gets blood flowing and raises your muscle temperature. It prepares your body for more vigorous physical activity by enhancing performance, improving flexibility and preventing injury. On the other hand, skipping the warmup before you exercise results in negative effects on your heart rate, lower oxygen flow to your muscles and accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Therefore, foregoing the warmup diminishes performance, decreases flexibility and leads to a higher chance of injury.
Warming up Enhances Performance
With increased muscle temperature, muscles can contract and relax at a faster pace, allowing the muscles and body to work more efficiently. According to WomenFitness.net, after warming up for 10 to 12 minutes, 70 to 75 percent of your small blood vessels open, increasing blood flow and muscle temperature. As blood flow increases, hemoglobin, the iron containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells, release more oxygen in your blood. Increasing blood flow to your muscles accompanied by additional oxygen create an improved performance.
Warming Up Improves Flexibility and Prevents Injury
In addition to enhancing performance, warming up and stretching also boost flexibility and help you avoid injury. As you raise your overall body temperature in the warmup, muscles and tendons become more flexible for the main physical activity. Enhanced flexibility prior to the workout helps your joints move through their full range of motion. During the main workout, a fuller range of motion leads to higher performance and decreases your risk of injuries.
Not Warming up Decreases Performance
Forgoing a warmup prior to physical activity causes a negative effect on heart rate and oxygen supply. According to studies of high-intensity workouts and the effects on the heart, the majority of people that do not warm up before high-intensity workouts experience abnormal electrocardiogram changes. These changes are not due to age or fitness level. The abnormalities occur because of a low blood/oxygen supply to the heart, which decreases performance.
Low Oxygen Supply Hurts Muscle Cells
According to the Scientific American, when oxygen is limited, the body temporarily resorts to anaerobic energy production, using lactic acid to create energy. Working muscles continue production at high rates for several minutes, during which time lactic acid can accumulate in high levels. A side effect of high lactic acid levels is an increase in the acidity of muscle cells, which is a factor in muscle fatigue. Acidity in muscle cells can be avoided by doing a warmup prior to the main physical exercise.
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