How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Here at Abu Dhabi Personal Trainers we hear a lot of stories about injuries that occur and this can be due to a limited or complete lack of a warm up. If you are a client, a personal trainer, or are considering a change of a career to become a personal trainer then take a look at the information below:

What is a warm-up?

A warm-up is a session, which takes place prior to doing physical activity is commonly know as a warm up. The best personal trainers in Abu Dhabi will focus their warms up on the upcoming focus of the training session. Usually a warm-up will consist of light cardiovascular exercises combined with stretches.

What happens in a warm-up?

Most warm-up sessions will include a combination of cardiovascular exercises, stretching and strength drills. The cardiovascular exercises are designed to increase circulation, increase body temperature and bring the heart rate up, while stretching warms the muscles and prepare them for the movements they will be required to carry out during the activity. Explosive strength exercises, which may include sprint drills or jumps, gently increase the level of intensity and prepare the body for sudden movements in the game which will follow; these exercises should only be done once the muscles are warm; this will prevent injuries.

Effects of the warm-up

The warm-up should gently prepare the body for exercises by gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation; this will loosen the joints and increase blood flow to the muscles. Stretching the muscles prepares them for physical activity and prevents injuries. The warm-up is also a good opportunity for an individual to prepare themselves mentally for the game ahead and for a team to work together prior to the start of the game. Warm-ups can also be used to practice skills and team drills.

How long should a warm up last?

Most warm up sessions last between 10 and 20 minutes. This allows the body plenty of time to gradually get ready for physical activity and gives the client time to prepare them mentally.

Preventing injury

The most important reason for doing a warm up is to prevent injury during exercise; keeping the muscles warm will prevent acute injuries such as hamstring strains and will stave off overuse injuries by allowing the body to prepare steadily and safely.

Reduce Post Workout Soreness

After working out with your Abu Dhabi Personal Trainer there is a good chance that you may be sore the next day! Waking up sore after a workout is something that anyone who has ever worked out can relate to! DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness, is caused by microtraumas in your muscle fibres that are then repaired as part of the muscle growth process. Although there is no substitute for taking rest days, getting enough sleep and eating healthy, adding these simple recovery tools will help you avoid DOMS!

1. Wear compression tights after your workout as they will help speed up the recovery process. The compression helps to boost circulation and supports the muscles groups.

2. Roll out your muscles with a foam roller. Using a foam roller can help to ease muscle tightness and tension. Foam rolling can be painful but make sure that it is not unbearable!

3. Try local balms like Deep Heat or Tiger Balm. These balms have a cooling sensation on the skin when applied that reduces muscle pain.

4. Make sure you warm up properly, and that the muscles you are going to train are warm! Use bodyweight exercises or very light weights to warmup.

5. Drink some coffee! Scientists have suggested that caffeine can reduce soreness because it blocks the central nervous receptors that are related to pain.

6. Use active recovery to your advantage! Active recovery can help to reduce the inflammation and pain that comes with DOMS. Active recovery should be low0impact aerobic exercise that will increase the flow of blood around the body.

7. Eat blueberries! The positive effect of blueberries on reducing DOMS is likely due to the high amount of anthocyanins blueberries contain.

Quick and Unusual Tips on Diet and Health

Below are 7 useful but not commonly known tips on diet and health that we at Abu Dhabi Personal Trainers think you should know!

1. Always try and eat your food freshly cooked or use an oven if possible to re-heat your food. Did you know that a microwave heats your food by oscillating it at about a billion times a second damaging the nutrients, vitamins and minerals in the food.

2. The best time for you to have your post-workout protein shake or supplement is before you stop sweating! This is the best time to ensure that extra protein is used effectively! Abu Dhabi Personal Trainers’ recommends natural protein, not a whey-protein shake.

3. Be positive! Be positive about your workouts, your food and your life in general. Positive people are happier, healthier and achieve more than people who have a view the world in a negative light.

4. Abu Dhabi Personal Trainers’ general moto on diet ie: if it wasn’t here 10,000 years ago, don’t eat it….

5. Get more in tuned with your body and your emotions. This will help you avoid emotional eating which can be disastrous on your health and your waist! Any mind-body exercise will help with this like yoga, breathing exercises, stretching etc.

6. To ensure long term success in any health and fitness goals you need to have 3 things, without these 3 things succeeding will be made either more difficult or impossible. The three things are: 1: Your total movement. 2: The quality of your diet. 3: The quality of your rest/downtime/sleep.

7. Be patient! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither with your dream body. Don’t be too harsh on yourself, enjoy the journey and have fun!

Good Luck with your health and fitness goals.

If you require any help or you’re looking for a personal trainer in Abu Dhabi then please get in touch. Our personal trainers and health coaches are extremely well qualified and will help you no matter what your goals are!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Oatmeal Cups

Chocolate and peanut butter protein oatmeal cups, does it get any better? Our personal trainers here in Abu Dhabi don’t think so! This recipe is definitely a favourite of ours! Rich and moist, you would have no idea that these muffins have no oil or butter! Our personal trainers recommend these healthy muffins as an easy breakfast option or perfect for a pre-workout snack!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds (soaked in 6 tablespoons water)

• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed

• 1 cup unsweetened nut milk of your choice (almond, cashew, coconut milk etc.)

• 1/4 cup peanut butter

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 scoop chocolate plant-based protein powder

• 3 cups oats

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, soak the chia seeds and water to make “chia eggs.” Alternatively, you could use 2 large eggs. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add nut milk, peanut butter, maple syrup/honey and vanilla and stir until well mixed. Stir in “chia eggs”.
4. Add protein powder, oats, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
5. Spoon mixture evenly into muffin tin, filling tins to the top.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a wire rack. Come, remove from pan and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Which Is the Best Day of the Week to Weigh Yourself?

You can’t lose weight if you’re not checking in with the scale. There’s no way around that. But how often should you weigh yourself and which day is best? It is agreed and recommended by the personal trainers here in Abu Dhabi that you should weigh yourself first thing in the morning, before you have eaten or had anything to drink and that you only needed to weigh yourself once or twice a week. But the question remains, which day of the week is best to weigh yourself?

MONDAYS: FIND FOCUS FOR THE WEEK

It makes sense: you weight yourself at the start of the week and then you know where you stand. It is helpful to weigh yourself on a Monday because it can help to motivate you and re-set your mind frame after what was likely a fun-filled weekend of eating and drinking. Weighing yourself is a nice check-in to get you back to your normal weekly plan of healthy eating and exercising. However, the down side may be the fact that your weight is likely to be higher on Monday as a result of relaxed eating and exercising over the weekend and this may in fact get you down and cause you to lose motivation. Seeing a higher number on the scale can either motivate you or deflate you, only you will know how you respond to seeing a higher number on the scale than expected. You just need to remember that this is only a number and use it as a starting point to get back on plan for the week!

WEDNESDAYS: GET THE BEST READING

According to the 2014 Finnish study, we tend to weigh the most on Sunday evenings and the least on Friday mornings. So some experts say weighing in midweek gives you the most accurate reading of what your true weight is. By Wednesday, you have had a few days back on track with eating healthy and exercising and your body has had time to recover from the weekend. However, if you are the type of person who can let your weekend eating and drinking habits bleed into Monday and Tuesday, then Monday may be the best day for you to motivate you to get back on track.

FRIDAYS: MAKE THE MOST OF WEEKENDS

Checking your weight before the weekend can help you strategize and prepare for it. If you weigh yourself on a Monday and then again on a Friday you can see what progress you have made and this may help you to decide if you want to reward yourself a bit on the weekend or seeing a decreased weight may inspire you to keep up your healthy habits into the weekend. The down side of weighing yourself on a Friday is the risk that you may have gained weight during the week which could lead to some people feeling bad, resulting in a binge eating fest all weekend. This “I might as well eat junk” mentality can then snowball — if you tell yourself you’ll start over on Monday, you may never get back on track.

THE BEST DAY TO WEIGH YOURSELF?

It’s simple: Do it on the day to which you can commit and to which you can mentally cope with the results, whether they be positive or negative. Weigh-ins should be a tool to help you stay on track not to derail you into giving up and binge eating. Ultimately, weigh ins can be whenever, but  do it the same day and same time every week, with the same scale. Every scale is calibrated slightly differently, and your weight can fluctuate several pounds in one day.

More Weights, Less Cardio!

In whatever routine you are doing, there should always be room to do both cardio and weights. But here are Abu Dhabi Personal Trainers we believe that your main focus and energy should be spent on the weights! While cardio is a great tool to help burn extra calories, it can be detrimental to your muscle building and muscle toning goals! Too much cardio can help you lose weight, but is not so great for sustaining and growing your muscles!

Our personal trainers also believe in the mantra of more weights, less cardio because doing weights can help change your body composition for the better! Think tighter and more toned looking bodies! Weights aren’t just good for building muscle but also good and helping you lose weight! Ultimately, it is your muscle mass that is going to give you that athletic toned shape you’re looking for. Without that muscle mass you’re only going to achieve a soft skinny-fat look.

So ladies, don’t be afraid to pick up the weights!! Your personal trainer can help guide you through weight and recommend the best program for you!