WARM UP

1. For your age group, the warm up must be

- Gradual. You should start with light exercises and increase their intensity progressively to end your warm up with exercises of similar intensity to the ones you will be performing. The more intense the activity, the stronger the warm up should be.

- Complete. You should work all the muscle groups and joints in your body, especially those that you will be using in the exercise activity as well as any muscles that suffered injuries in the past.

- Duration: Elite level atheletes warm up between 30 and 40 minutes; but in your age group, the warm up should last between 5 and 10 minutes.

- Appropiate to the exercise activity. You should pay close attention to warm up those parts of your body that you will use while exercising. (i.e. legs prior to playing soccer or biking, arms prior to playing basketball or handball, etc.)

2. Purpose of the warm up

The primary objectives we want to achieve during warm up are: - To prepare us physically for the activity. Progressive warm up exercises allow

muscles and joints to reach the necessary temperature and mobility. The increase in the blood flow increases the level of oxygen and nutrients reaching the muscles. As our breathing rate increases, more oxygen is transported by the blood.

- To prepare us mentally. We not only need to prepare ourselves physically, but also the nervous system needs to activate itself so we can improve our concentration and coordination.

- To improve the general capability of the organism to respond to situations that might require attention and effort.

- To avoid the risk of sport injuries. If we do not warm up, the risk of injuries increases. During warm up, it is important to emphasize those areas of your body that you note tenser.

3.2 Specific warming up (to target specific areas)

The warm up cannot be the same for a speed race or to play basketball, since these are activities that require different efforts and movements.

Once a general warm up is complete, you should target specific areas of your body. You should focus in those areas of your body that you will be using the most during the exercise activity. A specific warm up should be performed for a specific activity considering:

- The parts of your body and muscles that you will be using and - Most frequent movements during the activity.

Specific warm ups are usually performed in the playing field with the material use for each specific activity and performing movements related to the activity. Some proposed examples are:

- Basketball game: Exercises of some intensity for the arms and legs. Specific exercises related to basketball movement Static and dynamic exercises involving passing and catching the ballOffensive and defensive activities

- Tennis: Specific exercises for arms and waist Specific movement exercises in the tennis court Different types of strikes with the racket

- Speed races: Coordination leg movements Proper running techniques Progressions, accelerations and races increasing speed

4. Proper warm up prevents injuries

As we mentioned to you, one of the principal purposes of the warm up is to avoid injuries; next, we`ll show you the most frequent parts of the body where injuries may take place. This will give you an idea of what type of specific warm up you should perform depending on the activity you want to perform.

- Arm: - Shoulder: - Elbow: tennis elbow - Hand: Arthritis in the finger joints, fractures of the fingers, torn wrists - Leg: torn muscles - Knee: torn ligaments; meniscus rupture. - Ankle: torn ligaments; inflammation of Achilles' tendon.