| Dynamic Arts - Warmup |
The warm-up is to get the body moving, supple and ready to absorb some impact.
It is a collection of joint rotations, light stretches, small jumping, light cardiovascular movements or jogging.
Warming up reduces the risk of injury. The older you get, and the more out of condition you are, the more likely you will be injured, and the more care you should take during warm-up.
An essential starting point of any exercise is to rotate the joints. It is better to work in sequence either from the top down or bottom up, and cover all of the joints. Rotating the joints spreads your lubricating synovial fliud over the joint surfaces and loosens the muscles.
| Neck | First lift the head to straighten the neck. Rotate left and right, then look up and down |
| Shoulders | Windmills either to front or sides |
| Fingers | Claw at the air, making sure all fingers go through their full motion. |
| Wrists | Rotate wrists, then reverse direction |
| Elbows | Rotate elbows then reverse direction |
| Spine | Place feet together. Rotate the spine |
| Hips | Feet shoulder width apart. Place hands on hips and move hips in a big circle, then reverse direction |
| Knees | Place feet together and hands just above knees. Bend knees, then rotate until the legs are straight. Then reverse | direction. It is important not to move the knees past their extended point when the legs are straight.
| Ankles | Stand on one foot and rotate the other foot about the ankle, then reverse direction. Change feet and repeat. |
| Toes | Wiggle toes |
Jog, swim. Some do push ups and things but I'm not too keen on straining at repetitive exercises.