Want to know an easy and fast way to warm up before your workouts? That's what I was looking for myself a short while ago. My typical warm up procedure was long and involved and still didn't really warm up my entire body properly. Then I learned about a fun exercise that is very effective at warming up for exercise. Give it a shot and I'm sure you'll like it.
You may have heard of this drill before. I call it The Hurdle. The drill can be done anywhere, but you will need a few feet of space to your left and right to do it properly.
Pretend that you have two hurdles to one side of you. Hurdles like they use in track races. All you have to do is act like you are stepping over one of them and then ducking under the other one. After you've ducked under the second one, do it back in the other direction to your original starting position.
This deceivingly simple exercise gets your whole body moving and is great for loosening the legs, hips and lower back in particular.
You can repeat this for as long as you like or just add it into your regular warm up routine and do it once or twice. You can also pretend that there is a huge row of hurdles instead of just two. The exercise will really get your heart pumping and warm you up for the real workout.
You can also use this exercise as a cool down after your workout. Try doing it nice and slow. You'll feel the stretch and bring your heart rate down at the same time. It's also a great exercise for quickly loosening yourself up if you are sore after a previous days workout.
Give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it! It's a fun way to get warmed up and is very effective. Feel free to come up with your own variations and make it fun.
Sheila Jonstone writes articles about a wide range of intriguing topics. Her most recent website is all about laser levels. Learn more about how to find the best laser level at www.BestLaserLevel.org.
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