5 best warm up exercises to do before leg workout
Warming up before exercising? The idea might appear to be silly, but the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans states that it is really essential to do so. When you warm your leg up, it can increase the flow of blood to the muscles and keep the joints loose. It can help you to perform much better and also prevent sprains and other acute injuries. The American Council on Exercise also states that it can also give you the mental preparation for exercising. You can feel more ‘in the mood’ for exercising.
Leg warm-up exercises need to be activity specific and active wherever needed. For instance, speed skaters and hockey players might carry out skater side-to-side jumps. Any warm-up workout for legs is good; and better than no workout at all.
5 Warm up exercises before you start your leg workout
The importance of warming up prior to any sport or exercise has been always reinforced by fitness experts. Warm up exercises are ideally those workouts that let you ease the muscles out, amplify the cardiac rate and boost the circulation of blood all through the body.
Here are the 5 best warm-up exercises that you can do prior to leg workout. It is essential that you perform these for about five to seven minutes before you start the main workout for your day. These types of workouts do not require any training equipment in most cases, and are usually convenient to perform.
Light Cardio
This is a warm-up prior to your actual warm-up session, and advocated by USA Basketball. You can carry out Dynamic leg warm-up stretches and exercises with cold workouts, although it is better that you go more easily into them. After you jump rope or jog for 5 minutes, your muscles begin to get ready and warm. Then, you have to arrange your warm-up workouts according to intensity – beginning with the least intense one and then increasing the intensity gradually.
Frankenstein March
With this move, you can warm your hamstrings up and scare your workout buddies at the same time.
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Move ahead, kick the right leg straight before your body and extend the left arm and attempt to touch your left hand’s fingertips with the right toes. Keep your leg as straight as you can. Land on your right foot and then move ahead, extending the right arm and the left leg. Go on alternating, taking a total of 20 steps.
Leg Swing
These are amazing soft warm-up exercises for the leg, and you can perform these to promote better range of movement in the quads, IT band, hip flexors, glutes and hip joints.
From a standing posture, raise the right foot and start to swing the leg back and forth. Contract the abs and keep the legs straight. Swing your feet only as far as possible without moving your torso. As your joints and muscles warm up, increase the range. Perform a total of 20 swings and then alternate the legs.
Once it is done, swing your leg side-to-side before your standing leg in a similar manner. Perform a total of 20 swings and then alternate the sides.
Ankle Pops
Do not forget about your own ankles. Use ankle pops to head off sprains and twists. Bend your knees a little. Bounce up off the toes slightly and land on the toes before you come down on your entire foot. Repeat the process and move ahead for 10 – 20 jumps. Reverse then, and return to the point you started from.
Grapevine
If you have an idea of how to perform the eponymous dance, you can easily carry out this warm-up exercise that can make your legs ready for lateral movement and boost the agility. Move to the left, cross the right foot before the left foot. Step ahead with the left foot and cross the right foot behind it. Repeat this sequence and do the move with more speed as you go. Try around 20 crosses, back and front, and then switch the direction.
Bonus Exercise Tip!
You may also perform the Quad Walk. It is a dynamic move that serves to warm up your hip flexors and quadriceps. Step ahead with the right foot and pull the left foot to the left butt as far as possible for you. Then, use your left foot to step ahead and pull the right foot to the direction of the right butt. Repeat the process for as many as 20 steps in all.
Ignoring proper warm-up can affect your performance during workout, and increase your risks of getting injured. This is exactly the reason why you should perform warm-up exercises before working your leg out. Just doing two or three of the exercises mentioned here can prepare your legs for the action, and help you to see wonderful results.
