SPORTS ACTIVITIES: WARM-UP AND STRETCHING

Warming up before any sporting activity

The importance of a good warm-up before physical activity is fundamental for professional athletes, but also for those who practice sports at an amateur level.
Warming up, as the word itself suggests, serves to increase body temperature, in order to bring blood back to the stressed areas, thus avoiding the risk of injury.
A good warm-up promotes muscle elasticity and increases joint lubrication. This helps prevent muscle strains, contractures, and pulls.
Precisely for this reason we can divide the warm-up activity into two phases:

GENERAL PHASE: low intensity activity where the focus is on activating the body as a whole.

SPECIFIC PHASE: more technical exercises aimed at the target muscles that will raise their temperature.

So with the warm-up, lasting 5/10 minutes, you can get these benefits:

-Raise body temperature by 1-2 degrees.
-Increase blood flow: the increase in temperature leads to peripheral vasodilation which promotes the need for oxygen and nutrients, helping the muscle to be stronger.
-It improves joint lubrication thus facilitating joint movement.
-Increases reactivity of the nervous system.

Stretching

Once you've finished exercising, it's important not to neglect stretching exercises to avoid unpleasant injuries and contractures. Stretching exercises improve circulation, improve breathing, and reduce feelings of fatigue. Above all, they induce a state of physical and mental relaxation. 

Playing sports is very beneficial for our well-being, but it's still essential to follow certain precautions to prevent unpleasant injuries, so don't underestimate the advice of experts!