Why is it important to warm up before CrossFit training?

Many beginners do not differentiate between the warm-up process and the actual exercises they do with a physical activity such as CrossFit, and also everyone may not realize the importance of the warming up before CrossFit.

Warm-up exercises have caused the improvement of the performance of many beginners and also caused many injuries to them because they ignored warm-ups before the exercises, and this increases the rate of injury, so that the warm-up exercises have an effective role in preparing the body to do CrossFit and have several other benefits.

That is why we will discover the importance of warming up before training CrossFit and what risks beginners may face when they ignore warm-up exercises, and what specialists say about this as well.

Read on to discover some of the answers together.

What is a Warm Up?

Warming up is a process by which the body temperature is raised without depleting the stores of the energy contained in the body.

So you need to link warm-up exercises with physical activity in order to maintain a high body and muscle temperature during that transitional period between the completion of the warm-up and the start of the event.

So we can say that warming up leads to more changes in the metabolism process, and this leads to an increase in readiness for physical activity soon.

Warm Up Before CrossFit

Is there a standard by which to measure the duration of the warm-up or its effectiveness?

According to the NCBI website, before the last decade, there was not enough evidence to prove the effectiveness of warming up before physical activities, so it was based on trial and error and the use of the experiences of coaches and athletes instead of scientific evidence.

But over the last decade, new research has emerged that has provided insights into how and the effectiveness of warming up before physical activity.

What is the science behind warming up before CrossFit?

Warming up according to the scientific perspective, is a process that seeks to increase body temperature and blood flow to the muscles, and its purpose is to reduce the risk of muscle and tendon injury.

It also increases the range of motion of the joints, and this is what makes the body gain some flexibility, improves the performance of exercises and reduces the risk of injuries, and the warm-up period usually ranges between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on the activity that the body prepares for.

What happens if you don’t do a warm up before CrossFit?

You may be exposed to many risks if you do not warm up before training CrossFit, and this often happens with new people or beginners who train at home or alone.

That is why you will not find any of the CrossFit centers that do not warm up before exercises, because not warming up before an activity like CrossFit may result in several problems.

  • muscle contraction.
  • Possible exposure to injury in various areas of the body, back, hip, shoulder.
  • You may not feel flexible, and may throw the towel away after a few reps.
  • You will get tired quickly.
  • You will suffer from poor blood flow in the vessels.
  • The performance is low.
  • It will take a lot of energy to raise your body temperature.
  • You may feel pain in the joints after the training.

What are the benefits of warming up?

There is no doubt that stretching exercises or warm-up exercises have an effective role in improving performance before the main exercises and so on.

Many studies have proven that warming up before major activities has many health benefits that the body can benefit from effectively.

  • Warming up can reduce the risk of muscle and joint injury.
  • Studies also show that warm-up increases the rate of turnover of adenosine, and the latter enhances the rate of muscle turnover across the bridge and speeds up the kinetics of oxygen uptake, and this greatly affects the performance of exercises.
  • Increased range of motion of joints.
  • Raise your body temperature without exhausting too much energy.
  • Warm-up exercises also help reduce heavy loads on the heart.
warming up benefits

What is warm up in physical education?

The warm-up process depends on the type of activity that the body is prepared for, as it activates and warms the muscles to be used in training.

The body needs to warm up before training, because this works to prepare the body for an unusual physical activity such as CrossFit, so that there are many activities that the body will do, such as gymnastics, weightlifting, jumping and performing difficult movements, so the body needs to be ready to do All of these things without spasms or muscle cramps, and that’s exactly what the warm-up works on.

What are the best types of warming up before CrossFit?

The warm-up process focuses heavily on exercises that help stretch the muscles and speed up the heart rate without losing a lot of energy. 

Common warm-up exercises that CrossFit athletes do before training:

Full CrossFit Warm Up

  • Jumping Jacks.
  • Seal Jacks.
  • Power Jacks.
  • Open Up Shoulders.
  • Leg Swings.
  • Inch Worms.
  • Worlds Greatest.
  • Push Up / Downward Dog.
  • Bootstrappers.
  • Squat Twist / Reach.

You can see how to perform this movements here  

What do specialists say about warming up and cooling down?

The specialists agreed that the process of cooling and warming up takes place at a slower pace and with less intensity.

They also agree that the warm-up process helps prepare the body, so that the warm-up gradually speeds up the heart and vascular system, by raising the body temperature and blood flow to the muscles.

As for cooling down, it allows for a gradual recovery of heart rate and blood pressure after exercise, and cooling is more important for athletes like CrossFit endurance athletes, etc., as cooling allows them to regulate blood flow.

As the Mayo Clinic emphasized, there is insufficient evidence about whether cooling and warming up can prevent injury, but the Mayo Clinic believes that cooling and warming up may not pose a risk, and may be effective in giving your heart and blood vessels a chance to enter a session exercise and to get out from it.

Summary

Doing a warm-up for 5 to 15 minutes before CrossFit, is not only beneficial but will help you integrate into the activity well.

Warm-up is what makes you merge with the atmosphere of exercise quickly, because it is based on performing some exercises that raise the heart rate quickly and raise the body temperature, so it is important not to miss the warm-up process and this is in your favor.

If you ignore the warm-up process, you will find yourself facing many problems, so you should not let this happen because you were unable to do some warm-up before the exercises.

Do not forget to share the post with your friends who are interested in knowing how important it is to warm up before exercising, and do not forget to join us in our mailing list.

Hamza Bjr
Hamza Bjr

Hamza started his journey with building fitness and strong muscles 4 years ago, he was able to successfully change the shape of his body and he was able to earn a third-class coach certificate from the "SET" Center, after that he decided to use his simple knowledge about exercises and high-intensity training to help many others people achieve their goals.

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