If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Image via Wikipedia

When i was younger, i will jump straight into playing a game without warming up. Back then of cos, i do not feel much ill effects, as the exuberance of youth overwhelms any muscles soreness.

Now i can hardly walk properly after a basketball game where i do brief warm up and cooling down…

It is easy to understand why people always want to jump into games without warming up. Your friends are already playing and they need one more person to form up a team. The pleasure of playing, the adrenaline, is definitely more enticing than the boring routine of stretching your limbs…

But you have to think, the short term benefits of playing without warming up will probably leave up needing a much longer recovery time. Whereas, if you had arrived 5-10min earlier, and do a proper warm up before playing, you could find yourself playing much more regularly than many of your friends.

Think Long Term

I believe you are a person with foresight, and especially when it comes to managing your own body. Think long term. To enjoy playing soccer, basketball or whatever you sports you desire, to play it for an extended period of time, to be able to play it with your kids without playing too much strain on muscles, you need to adopt a proper warm up and cooling down routine. Shut out the influence of your friends. Focus on yourself.