Don’t skip warmup and stretching

Warming up was never top of mind until a few years ago when I added kundalini to my weekly routine. The practice always starts with a round of cat cow and spine twists to make sure the spine is warm and flexible. 

Although everyone knows about the importance of stretching after a workout not only to lower the heart rate, but also to get rid of the lactic acid in the leg muscles or decompress the spine, many don’t practice a solid warm up routine and skip the cool down altogether. 

Any trainer would tell you how important it is to start off with a good 5 to 10 minutes warm up exercises and close the practice with at least 5 minutes of hold or dynamic stretching to avoid injuries and let the muscles relax. 

In fact, warming up allows the blood to start circulating faster bringing more oxygen to the muscles, increasing their flexibility and making the workout safer and more efficient; while cooling down not only lowers the heart rate, but also reduces built up lactic acid, decreasing the chances of cramps and muscle stiffness. Combining static and dynamic exercises for a total of 15 minutes is desirable.

Warm up and cool down exercises are an essential part of a fitness routine.

Some examples of warm up exercises are a static quad stretch or side to side squats, which also increases hips flexibility, or a static forward bend on the floor holding the feet with the opposite hand to stretch the quadriceps. Cat cow is an example of stretching exercise that helps prepare the spine for the work to come and dead bug preps the core, which comprises a set of muscles that we need to engage to avoid lower back pain.

There is no shortage of videos out there: here is one I really like from Glo.

Lastly, don’t forget to hydrate and add some electrolytes to your water like Cure which is all organic and tastes delicious.

Try it and let us know how you feel!