Most athletes and teams perform a step-by-step routine at the beginning of practice to ensure they are fully warmed up before attempting any physical activity. As it gets colder outside, it is more important than ever to warm up to prevent injuries during practice or a game.
According to an article by ‘Tri-City Medical Center,’ warming up prevents injuries by loosening up your joints, and improving blood flow to your muscles. It makes your muscles less likely to rip, tear or twist in a harmful way during your workout.
Warming up is a slower pace workout that can alert the body that it might move on to more intense exercise. Depending on the sport or position they play or perform the warmup may vary.
“[In cheerleading] we do a dynamic warmup and as a flyer, I stretch my body [into] positions and make sure I’m fully stretched for the air,” freshman Amerissa Kaliakmanis said.“I have my back spot hold my legs so my body positions are fully stretched.”
A dynamic warm-up in cheerleading usually consists of high knees, butt kickers and even lunges. But particularly for cheerleading, the team will often warm up handstands, forward rolls and round-offs to prime their bodies’ warm-up performance and timing.
“I play defensive end,” senior Alex Bueno said. “For my position, we warm up a certain way, I like to work on my technique and certain moves I will use in a game.”
As a football team, the Sequoits will typically get into multiple lines and complete a certain amount of stretches and some jogging to get the blood flowing. Along with lunges, quad pulls and other essential stretches to get the legs and hips loose
Stretching can be an added bonus after a warm-up because the body is fully relaxed to stretch out muscles.
“I like to get some extra stretching on my own,” Bueno said. “I always have my teammate [senior] Ryan Emering stretch me out before we bring it up and I have been doing that since week one.”
As an athlete, it is essential to take time when it comes to stretching and warming up as it can assist in possibly preventing future injuries and keeping longevity in fitness and sports.
