Benefits of a Gradual Warmup

If those first five or 10 minutes are simply too uncomfortable for you to push through, or if you are new to exercise, you can easily avoid this discomfort by engaging in a longer and more gradual warmup. A warmup is smart for a variety of reasons—particularly for injury prevention—but easing into any intense cardio exercise is far more comfortable and enjoyable if you don't feel like you are wiped out before you've begun. 

Although these temporary physiological changes occur in anyone switching from sedentariness to activity, if you exercise regularly, this transition will happen faster and more seamlessly. But that's not the only good thing that will happen: Long-term physical changes, or adaptations, also occur in the bodies of regular exercisers. The heart muscle becomes stronger and able to pump more blood with each contraction, which results in a lower heart rate. Lung capacity and oxygen transfer also increase. Blood vessels become wider and more elastic, blood pressure decreases and new capillaries form. All of these changes lead to many long-term health benefits from regular exercise.

Start at a comfortable pace

By starting your workout at a comfortable pace and gradually adding speed or intensity during the first five to ten minutes, you will avoid the early discomfort of oxygen debt and the rest of your workout may feel much more effective.

The Importance of Pushing Through
Next time you start exercising and feel the discomfort of going out too hard or too fast, visualize what's occurring in your body, breathe, ease up a bit and keep on going. If you want to take a gentler approach when you head out for a workout, use the first 5 minutes as an easy warmup, the next five minutes to ramp up the pace and then settle into your workout as usual.

With these tips and a newfound understanding of the physiology of the warmup, you may find that you start looking forward to your workout rather than dreading it.

How Long Should I Warmup Before Exercising?

The pros and cons of warming up before exercise have been debated among experts and athletes for years, but nearly all experts agree that a pre-exercise warm-up does, in fact, improve sports performance and can even reduce the risk of injury during intense exercise. But the question remains — what is the best way for an athlete to warm up? The length and intensity of the ideal warm-up are still being debated and researched.

Before a competition, many athletes perform a lengthy warm-up. For example, before a cycling time trial, you will often find the top cyclists warming up at a high intensity for 30 to 60 minutes or more. But could such a warm-up routine do more harm than good? A study from the University of Calgary offers a new twist on an old concept.

Most athletes use the warm-up to prepare the body for intense exercise and to prevent injury. The physiology behind the warm-up is related to the post-activation potentiation (PAP), which is a biochemical change in muscle activation response that is caused by brief bouts of strenuous physical activity. The trick for athletes and coaches has always been to find the optimal length and intensity of the warm-up phase, as well as what specific exercises should be performed during the warm-up.

Shorter Warm-Ups May Be Best
A study done by the University of Calgary Human Performance Laboratory found that certain types of warm-up activities may be better than others when it comes to improving performance, and delaying fatigue. Their research showed that shorter, less intense warm-ups may be better than long, more intense warm-ups, particularly for cyclists.

The study looked at ten elite track cyclists doing two types of warm-ups: a long, high-intensity warm-up of 50 minutes that brought the athletes all the way to 95% of their maximal heart rates, and a shorter, 15-minute warm-up that had the cyclists peak out at only 70% of their maximal heart rates. The researchers measured the muscle contractile response and peak power output of the cyclists before, during and after the warm-ups.

The research found the shorter warm-up resulted in less muscle fatigue and a greater muscle contractile response than the longer warm-up. This, in turn, resulted in more peak power output among the cyclists doing the shorter warm-up. The difference was fairly dramatic—peak power output was 6.2% higher, and total work was 5% higher in cyclists who did the shorter warm-up.

According to study co-author Elias K. Tomaras, the study shows that "an even shorter warm-up might be better for athletes who want to tap into PAP.”

Any athlete who participates in sports that require short, high-intensity efforts, such as sprint-distance events or power events, may want to give the shorter warm-ups a second look. The ultimate goal of the warm-up is to tap into the ideal amount and intensity of activity to promote PAP without creating muscle fatigue.