Warm Up Before Your Workout

Do you warm up before Your exercise routine ? How about stretching? Getting your body ready to exercise will help you stay flexible and can even prevent injury. Have you ever noticed a dog or cat wake up? Observe their instinctive movements: the gradual but vigorous stretch in every direction, the deep breathing, the sympathetic extension and staying of the limbs at the climax, then the gradual giving up of the activity and the moment of restful satisfaction.

Stretching in this way is one of the most natural, even primitive instincts in all animals.
Certain simple movements are taken by practically every animal on awaking under normal conditions. Among these are yawning, deep breathing, expansion and stretching. These exercises form a part of the process of awaking. It is the change from the position of lying down to that of standing up. Many of us rarely takes the few moments to practice these simple exercises.

Between the moment of awakening and standing erect man possibly takes more time, whines more and does less than any other animal on this wonderful planet we share!

The stretch extends the body so that the veins, where congestion is most liable to take place and where pressure of blood is weakest, are so elongated that the blood flows more easily from the arteries, where the pressure is strongest, through the veins back to the heart and circulation is equalized and stimulated.

It's clear that regular exercise or physical activity can help you live longer and improve your quality of life as you age. And it doesn't need to be strenuous to improve your health. Moderate intensity activity performed over the course of the day can offer significant health benefits for people of all ages. Activities like walking may be the safest types of exercise for older or previously inactive people, because they put less stress on muscles and joints. Now make the choice to enjoy your exercise daily and try some simple stretches as part of your warm-up.