Why is it important to 'warm up' before vigorous activity?

Why is it important to 'warm up' before vigorous activity?

Gary Brazina (Sports Medicine Physician) gives expert video advice on: What role do proper clothing and footwear play in preventing sports injuries?; Why is it important to 'stretch' before exercising? and more...

Warm up is key to prevent injuries. The reason is that you want to get your muscles warm, by bringing blood flow into the area. It allows the muscles to become more flexible and it brings in blood to the muscular tendinous junction, which is a low-oxygen tension system. Once it is warmer, it is more flexible and more distensible. Also, in racquet sports for example, it builds hand-eye coordination. You get that eye-ball-racquet coordination earlier, so you're hitting the ball in a more exact fashion. So I recommend, for example for racquetball players or especially tennis players, to play what I call Mini-tennis. Stand on the service line. Hit the ball over the net gently. What it does is it gets your quickness and slowly warms you up. Same with skiers: you're not going take the toughest slope first thing on your first run. You want to warm up, get your muscles moving, get your timing down, and get your body ready for the exercise you're going to participate in.