The Intangibles - Warming Up

This is the 2nd in a series of weekly training tips designed to improve overall success, stamina, and flexibility.

You have 20 minutes until class begins, and you're 20 minutes from the dojang - after you put your dobok on.  As you race in the door, everyone has just finished running and is getting ready to stretch.  You join in, but feel stiff as a board and wonder if you should have just stayed home.  The answer?  Maybe...

The last thing any of our staff wants to see happen is a student become injured, so warm-ups are an essential part of training.  Not only does this activity raise your core body temperature, it also increases your overall metabolism and the blood/oxygen flow to the muscles being worked.  This results in a greater range of motion, faster muscle contraction, and improved reflexes.  And an important point to remember - although you are in the process of warming up for Taekwondo training, stretching should not be your only warm-up activity (think rusty hinge before the oil, especially for the older crowd).  A good warm-up routine includes calisthenics and stretching.

So unless you parked at Ralph's and jogged over, take a minute to run in place, do some jumping jacks or push-ups to help raise your core temperature before you begin stretching.  Hmm, on second thought if you are late, maybe you should park at Ralph's...

Next up, the do's and don'ts of stretching!