Warming up to prevent injury and the right equipment to use

Warming up and stretching properly can avoid and reduce risk of injury dramatically. On top of that, proper supplementation can also assist. Blood flow and loosening muscle tension play a huge role here, and can even help build strength in the long run, SAFELY. Here’s a few ways to warm up and stretch properly:

• Use of a foam roller: Foam rollers are a huge benefit for any major part of the body with larger muscle groups that may be experiencing tension or tightness. The most common use is lower back relief, glute, and hamstring/quad relief. Using a foam roller regularly helps bloodflow and can even improve flexibility and muscle control. 

• Using a tennis or massage balls: Using small tennis balls or massage balls helps to loosen muscle tension, promote muscle relaxation and help blood flow. This also helps with muscle soreness and relieves pain from tightness in multiple parts of the body. 

• Resistance bands for training and/or stretching: Using elastic bands to mock the range of motion for parts of the body that you'll be training prior to using weights help with blood flow and overall warms up the muscle to prepare the joints. Holding at the peak of the range and flex the muscle to maintain time in tension also helps maximize the muscle to prep it for training and even helps with getting oxygen to the muscle prior to training. 

• Proper supplementation: Fish oil, Vitamins, ZMA, Glucosamine, and Protein are just a few of the several supplements that can be taken to prevent injury when done on a consistent and regular basis. Of course most supplementation can be replaced proper nutrition via meals however can be challenging to manage calories and macros while monitoring the right amount of nutrients are taken in. Proper supplementation with the above supplements most importantly plays a role in blood flow, circulation, and maintaining healthy joint movement. ZMA and protein plays a role in recovery and rebuilding muscle. 

• Walking 10-15 min for warm up prior to training: As simple as it may sound, walking a brisk pace prior to training helps get your heart rate up, help with blood flow and even warming up the joints in the legs and hips. Moving your arms in a swift motion helps warm up the shoulder joints and elbows for a full body warm up before training. 

Following these guidelines should help you feel some relief in your training if you are experiencing any pain and most importantly, help you continue to make "GAINZ" while training and not have to pay the costly price of any unnecessary pain during the process!

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