Warm Up Before You Train
When you’re young, warming up is usually unnecessary because there’s less chance of pulling something unless you train hard. It’s still recommended, though, just in case. Better safe than sorry, right? Besides it’s a great habit to get into.
But when you’re older, a good warm up is essential to lubricate the joints, avoid pulling muscles, and reducing the extent of soreness following training. So, keeping that in mind, make it part of your routine.
Some Tips:
When you warm up, always start with your fingers and feet. Stretch them out by pulling them backwards and forwards. Then, move onto the ankles and wrists, rotating and stretching. Work your way upwards, slowly and deliberately. Don’t just do it, though. Put your mind into it too, by thinking about the joint or muscle and imagine it being warmed up. This may sound a little weird, but it makes your mind cooperate with your body (mind over matter).
Don’t force the stretch. This is just a warm up, so treat it like that. A good stretch to increase flexibility should be done after you’ve trained a bit, since your muscles will be ready for it then. But during the warm up, don’t think you can stretch to your maximum. This should be avoided, because it could cause injury. So, if you can do the splits without warming up, fine. But if you can’t, don’t force it. You can work on it later.
After you’ve stretched the body and lubricated the joints, then you can get into training.