Authors: Wali, Cris Hernandez, Delroy Daley of the AUC School of Medicine and Drs. Wisler Saint-Vil, Robert Flannery, Specialists in Sports Medicine, Cleveland, Colin Michie, Paediatrician.
Hi friends! It’s student Dr. Wali with some more ideas! As you know Wali well, you know I enjoy being active, exercising and playing sports. Let me tell you about the time I forgot to warm up before a big game!
Friends invited me to Maho beach for a game of volleyball. You bet I replied! I wanted to compete – I had not played this before.
I learned that in volleyball someone in the team jumps as high as possible to hit the ball over a net using a quick, downward motion called a “spike”. This looked fast and fun! About five minutes in, when I was getting ready to serve the ball, my leg gave way with a sharp pain in my calf!
I had to sit out for 10 minutes and then remembered that in all that excitement, I had not warmed up. My leg recovered fine, but I learned my lesson.
Warming up prepares your muscles, tendons and joints to exercise. It prevents pains and injuries and helps you perform better, physically and mentally. It improves muscle stamina, strength and flexibility on both sides of your body.
You can do warm ups as a noisy team too. Brilliant! The first and third parts of warming up should be some jogging; the second part involves slow stretches.
Talk to your coach about warm up stretches. As a lizard, I am not an expert – I warm up in the sun! For volleyball, you should stretch your leg muscles by bending over without bending your knees to touch your toes. That warms up your hamstrings – your leg muscles at the back of your leg.
Then you should bend your knees and bring your feet one at a time, as close as you can, to your behind. This movement stretches your front thigh muscles – the quadriceps. Your arms will be swinging, so stretch your deltoids too by stretching your elbows across your chest!
A proper warm up is 10-20 minutes long – no short cuts, even for lazy sunbathing lizards, haha!
Speaking of injuries, always remember to tie your footwear using laces – and wear protective gear when needed. You don’t want to sprain your ankle now, do you? I sure don’t! Until next time, friends! Stay busy.
Wali – out!
