Basketball - Things to Do Before Games
Before all training sessions and games where you know you are about to go out onto the hardwood and do some serious exercise, you need to do 2 things - warm up and stretch.
Anybody doubting whether the warm up and stretching period before exercise is essential should take a look at a NBA game next time.
When the starting 5 from each team is called out, the players are already sweating from their warm up and stretching.
Most of them have been at the courts for over an hour, getting ready for the game.
I guess the thing that people really want to know is why warming up and stretching is so important.
Well, the answer is simple.
Warming up increases the blood flow to muscles, warming them up and making them ready for exercises while stretching is a reiteration of the warm up, also working to get the muscles nice and limber.
A great analogy for this process is one involving a piece of rubber.
A cold piece of rubber is not flexible, hard to deform and stretch.
Going even further, cooling down a piece of rubber in the freezer makes the rubber brittle and easy for you to break.
This is the state of muscles before warming up and stretching.
Warming up this piece of rubber makes it now easy to bend and stretch while very hard to break.
Think of a blu-tack.
When you try to rip off a piece from package it is relatively easy.
But after stretching it over and over again it gradually warms up and you are able to stretch it quite far.
A warmed up muscle will be like the warm piece of rubber.
Now that it is warm, it is hard for it to stretch too far because the capacity for stretching is greatly increased.
Risk of injury in decreased while performance in the game is increased.
Apart from getting your muscles in the mood for exercise, warming up is also important to get yourself into the game.
After shooting around for a bit, not only does your body start warming up for the game but your mind gets into game mode.
You will suddenly see the court through clearer eyes with your mind in the basketball zone.
Remember - warm up your muscles by jogging around or shooting the ball.
After you start to sweat a little you should go into your stretches.
Doing this will improve your game performance and decrease risk of injuries.
Anybody doubting whether the warm up and stretching period before exercise is essential should take a look at a NBA game next time.
When the starting 5 from each team is called out, the players are already sweating from their warm up and stretching.
Most of them have been at the courts for over an hour, getting ready for the game.
I guess the thing that people really want to know is why warming up and stretching is so important.
Well, the answer is simple.
Warming up increases the blood flow to muscles, warming them up and making them ready for exercises while stretching is a reiteration of the warm up, also working to get the muscles nice and limber.
A great analogy for this process is one involving a piece of rubber.
A cold piece of rubber is not flexible, hard to deform and stretch.
Going even further, cooling down a piece of rubber in the freezer makes the rubber brittle and easy for you to break.
This is the state of muscles before warming up and stretching.
Warming up this piece of rubber makes it now easy to bend and stretch while very hard to break.
Think of a blu-tack.
When you try to rip off a piece from package it is relatively easy.
But after stretching it over and over again it gradually warms up and you are able to stretch it quite far.
A warmed up muscle will be like the warm piece of rubber.
Now that it is warm, it is hard for it to stretch too far because the capacity for stretching is greatly increased.
Risk of injury in decreased while performance in the game is increased.
Apart from getting your muscles in the mood for exercise, warming up is also important to get yourself into the game.
After shooting around for a bit, not only does your body start warming up for the game but your mind gets into game mode.
You will suddenly see the court through clearer eyes with your mind in the basketball zone.
Remember - warm up your muscles by jogging around or shooting the ball.
After you start to sweat a little you should go into your stretches.
Doing this will improve your game performance and decrease risk of injuries.
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