Essential Fitness Concepts: Warm-Up and Resistance Training

The Importance of Warming Up

What is Warming Up?

Warming up is physical activity performed prior to another of greater intensity. It facilitates the body's adaptation to the demands that require further work. It improves overall physiological readiness for the effort, leading to:

• Increased heart rate.
• Increased respiratory rate.
• Muscles contract and stretch more effectively.
• Attention and attitude toward the activity become more concentrated.

Why Warm Up?

Warming up is crucial for several reasons:

• To Improve Performance and Efficiency: To achieve efficiency through progressively adapting the body's organs to subsequent effort, thereby delaying fatigue or discomfort.
• For Safety: Essential for preventing injuries.
• For Action: Ensures you are psychologically prepared and motivated.
• To Prevent Soreness: Proper preparation helps minimize post-exercise muscle soreness.

Core Principles of Effective Warming Up

1. Globalization: Exercises should involve all parts of the body, even those not directly involved in the specific activities planned.
2. Specificity: Exercises must be selected in accordance with the characteristics of the activity that will be performed.
3. Variety: The routine should include a variety of different exercises to ensure it is attractive and maintains interest.
4. Progression: The difficulty, intensity, and the range of movement of the joints should be gradually increased.
5. Duration: The duration should be adequate for the planned activity.

Structuring Your Warm-Up Routine

A comprehensive warm-up typically develops in stages:

1. General Warm-Up (Cardio): Start with a moderate speed run or light cardio. The practice time must be long enough to raise the temperature of muscle tissue, typically involving low to medium intensity.
2. Specific Warm-Up: Perform specific exercises that only affect the muscle groups and movements involved in the sport or activity you are about to practice.
3. Timing and Length: The warm-up should ideally begin 30 minutes to 1 hour before the main test, and should last between 15 and 30 minutes. Intensity should increase, moving from simple movements to complex ones.
4. General Examples:
   • Arm circles.
   • Light jogging.
   • Trunk rotations (side to side).
   • Forward skips, giving 3 jumps with each leg.
   • Running drills (e.g., butt kicks, high knees).

Understanding Physical Resistance

Definition of Physical Resistance

Resistance is the physical capacity that enables us to carry out work for a long time, supporting or delaying the onset of fatigue.

Types of Resistance Training

1. Anaerobic Resistance:

   High intensity, where insufficient oxygen reaches the muscle cells. This type is of short duration (seconds or minutes) and leads quickly to fatigue. Example: A 400-meter sprint.

2. Aerobic Resistance:

   Low intensity, where sufficient oxygen is available to produce energy. This duration is prolonged, and fatigue either does not occur or appears only after a long period. Example: A continuous 5-kilometer run.

Measuring Heart Rate and Intensity

Heart rate indicates the intensity or degree of requirement for the exercise being practiced. It is measured by placing the tips of your index and middle fingers on the inside of the wrist, just below the base of the thumb. Count the pulse for 15 seconds and multiply this number by 4 to determine beats per minute (BPM).