Health and Wellness FITNESS
WARM UP TO THE TASK A dynamic warm up offers numerous benefits
By Nick Bohanan D
o you warm up before you bowl? If so, how?
Proper warm up prior to
any sporting activity is more im- portant than you might think, and can have a positive impact on your performance in several ways. Unfortunately, bowling has
lagged behind other sports both in its understanding and implementa- tion of warm-up regimens. For start- ers, few bowlers bother warming up before throwing their first ball, and even when they do, their warm-up routine is only marginally beneficial. That’s because bowlers tend to do static stretching, like bending over to touch their toes or stretching their
WARM-UP ACTIVITIES Make sure your warm up includes exercises that keep your muscles moving.
20 Jumping Jacks 10 Squats 10 Lunges, each leg 10 Side Lunges, each leg 10 Leg Swings, each leg 10 Hip Circles, forward and backward, each leg
10 Windmills, each side 10 Torso Twists, each side 10 Side Bends, each side 10 Arm Swings 10 Arm Circles, forward and backward
A GOOD WARM UP ISN’T A STRETCH: Click on the play button (above) to view Women’s Team USA member Bryanna Caldwell demonstrate dynamic warm ups.
14 USBOWLER JUNE 2011
hamstrings. That doesn’t increase blood flow, so there is no perfor- mance benefit.
What research has determined is that static stretching (simply stand- ing and stretching a single muscle for 15-30 seconds) is actually more beneficial after the sporting activity as a means of cooling down and preparing the body for recovery. What is much more beneficial is a dynamic warm up, where you are moving your muscles continu- ously through a range of motions — jumping jacks, leg swings, sta- tionary bike, etc. Dynamic exer- cises increase your heart rate and increase blood flow to certain areas, and by increasing blood flow you’re increasing the temperature of those muscles. The increase in tempera- ture makes the muscles more elas- tic, which, in turn, decreases your risk of pulling a muscle.
A dynamic warm up also releas- es hormones that are used to break down the energy sources that are stored in the muscle, and you’ll get better performance because you’re supplying the muscle with the fuel that it needs to contract.
Bottom line: There are multiple benefits to a dynamic warm up. As mentioned, bowling lags far behind some other sports in this
FITNESS, HEALTH AND NUTRITION TIPS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER BOWLER
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