The Importance of a Good Warm Up
A safe work out includes warming up before any serious activity. We do warming up exercises as part of class, but these are meant to follow a slower, more careful warm-up, so I encourage students to move and stretch before class starts. It is vitally important that students (and teachers) warm up carefully and don’t just dive into class unprepared. If you warn muscles as to what you want them to do, they respond a lot better… and you avoid pulls and strains. Also, warming up gets your heart ready for exercise.
At the bottom, I included a couple of hot links to articles on stretching. These offer visuals and more detail than I included here.
First: Warm Up
Studies have shown that muscles need warmed up (literally, raising the temperature of your body) before you put harsher demands on them. The best way to start warming up is to walk or jog slowly around for a few minutes.
Once you’re warm, start at the top: move your neck gently and slowly, back and forth (stretch out your chin to avoid too much rubbing together of the vertebrae in the back of the neck), then side to side. Some experts don’t recommend rolling the head; listen to your body and don’t do anything that hurts. Work the shoulders by rolling them forward and back. Work the arms, small circles, then larger circles. Put your hands on your hips and slowly and gently turn just the torso from side to side. Lift one knee then the other, not higher than the waist. Again, listen to your body and keep things gentle and reasonably painless (for some of us, some days, any movement hurts).
Bend the knees gently without going down too far. Rise up on the toes a few times. I used to catch my long toes on the floor during class, rolling them under and spraining them. I never imagined toes needed warmed up too, but they do. I carefully bend the toes under and stretch them slowly. I saw a professional dancer hopping on the tops of his feet—we don’t need that much flexibility, but warming up the tops of the feet and toes through stretching is a good way to avoid injuring them. Strong feet and toes are necessary for strong kicks in Taekwondo.
Next, try some careful, slow kicking. I usually throw a few front kicks first, gently. Very gently, kick to the side and the back, working both legs.
Stretching
After you’ve warmed the muscles through gentle movement, you can do some static stretching. Each stretch should be held for about twenty seconds. To get an even deeper stretch, release the stretch and take a deep breath, then let the breath out as you lean back into the stretch. Repeat each on both sides.
Lie on your back and bring one knee up to your chest, hugging your leg. Repeat on the other side. Draw both knees to your chest and hug them. Stretch out arms and legs as if you were in full traction. Take a moment to roll each ankle in circles, first one direction then the other.
Sit up with your legs open in a V. Gently reach out toward the toes and lean over the leg. Your goal is nose to the knee without bending the leg. You can lean slightly outward to get a stretch along the inside of the thigh. The hurdle stretch is a good one too: straighten one leg and keep one bent with the foot against the straight leg, then lean over the straight leg.
Stand in a front stance and lean over the front knee, keeping the heel of the back foot on the ground and the back leg straight. More advanced, lean over and touch the floor as you stretch the back leg. Push up on the ball of the back foot to stretch the foot and toes.
There are hundreds of ways to stretch the body safely: watch those around you, stick to what feels right, and always ask if you have questions. Read these articles for more info:
Why Warm Up?
Mayo Clinic: Stretching Major Muscle Groups
Warm Up Stretches
At the bottom, I included a couple of hot links to articles on stretching. These offer visuals and more detail than I included here.
First: Warm Up
Studies have shown that muscles need warmed up (literally, raising the temperature of your body) before you put harsher demands on them. The best way to start warming up is to walk or jog slowly around for a few minutes.
Once you’re warm, start at the top: move your neck gently and slowly, back and forth (stretch out your chin to avoid too much rubbing together of the vertebrae in the back of the neck), then side to side. Some experts don’t recommend rolling the head; listen to your body and don’t do anything that hurts. Work the shoulders by rolling them forward and back. Work the arms, small circles, then larger circles. Put your hands on your hips and slowly and gently turn just the torso from side to side. Lift one knee then the other, not higher than the waist. Again, listen to your body and keep things gentle and reasonably painless (for some of us, some days, any movement hurts).
Bend the knees gently without going down too far. Rise up on the toes a few times. I used to catch my long toes on the floor during class, rolling them under and spraining them. I never imagined toes needed warmed up too, but they do. I carefully bend the toes under and stretch them slowly. I saw a professional dancer hopping on the tops of his feet—we don’t need that much flexibility, but warming up the tops of the feet and toes through stretching is a good way to avoid injuring them. Strong feet and toes are necessary for strong kicks in Taekwondo.
Next, try some careful, slow kicking. I usually throw a few front kicks first, gently. Very gently, kick to the side and the back, working both legs.
Stretching
After you’ve warmed the muscles through gentle movement, you can do some static stretching. Each stretch should be held for about twenty seconds. To get an even deeper stretch, release the stretch and take a deep breath, then let the breath out as you lean back into the stretch. Repeat each on both sides.
Lie on your back and bring one knee up to your chest, hugging your leg. Repeat on the other side. Draw both knees to your chest and hug them. Stretch out arms and legs as if you were in full traction. Take a moment to roll each ankle in circles, first one direction then the other.
Sit up with your legs open in a V. Gently reach out toward the toes and lean over the leg. Your goal is nose to the knee without bending the leg. You can lean slightly outward to get a stretch along the inside of the thigh. The hurdle stretch is a good one too: straighten one leg and keep one bent with the foot against the straight leg, then lean over the straight leg.
Stand in a front stance and lean over the front knee, keeping the heel of the back foot on the ground and the back leg straight. More advanced, lean over and touch the floor as you stretch the back leg. Push up on the ball of the back foot to stretch the foot and toes.
There are hundreds of ways to stretch the body safely: watch those around you, stick to what feels right, and always ask if you have questions. Read these articles for more info:
Why Warm Up?
Mayo Clinic: Stretching Major Muscle Groups
Warm Up Stretches
Comments