There are many benefits of warming up before a workout. Did you know that you can use warm-ups and exercise for pain management? 

Medical experts and even lay people have known for a long time that exercise can help you feel better, have more energy, and live longer. Exercise also controls weight, combats health conditions and diseases, improves mood, promotes quality sleep, increases confidence, and much more. And because regular physical activity has been shown to effectively reduce pain, particularly chronic pain in adults, it is a common pain treatment.

There are many different exercises that aid in managing pain. These include cardiovascular or aerobic exercises such as walking, cycling, jogging, running, and swimming. Using strength/resistance exercises involving elastic bands, free weights, and body-weight resistance can relieve pain, too, as can stretching and warm-up exercises. 

Warming up is really important, as a matter of fact. There are many benefits of warm-up, regardless of the type of exercise you plan to do.

How Do Warm Ups Benefit and Help with Pain Management?

Exercising can relieve and prevent pain in a number of ways. Cardiovascular exercise, for example, is an excellent way to burn fat and lose weight, provided you maintain a healthy diet and consume fewer calories than you burn. The weight loss that results from the cardio can significantly reduce pressure on joints — especially lower body joints — relieving swelling, irritation, and pain, lowering the risk of injury, and slowing down degeneration. In one study, researchers found that losing just 10 pounds of fat could decrease knee osteoarthritis progression by 50 percent.

Resistance exercise can improve pain and chronic pain symptoms by adding muscles that support bone and cartilage. More muscle often translates to better pain management due to less bone-on-bone contact and inflammation. There may also be less stiffness, and added strength and endurance make physical injuries from falls and accidents (common in older adults) a lot less likely.

Usually, strength training and cardio exercise alone will not eliminate chronic pain from joint diseases like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout. However, exercise can serve as an effective complementary treatment.

What are the Benefits of Warm Up Exercises?

Warming up before aerobic and resistance exercises is beneficial because it prepares you for the strenuous activities ahead — not only physically but also psychologically. Rather than shocking the body, it gets your muscles ready at a gradual pace for exercises you are going to perform, increasing blood flow and oxygen to muscle cells. This makes it possible for you to perform at a higher level and minimize injuries while reaping the other benefits of warm-up.

Exercises for warming up raise body temperature, elevate heart rate, and loosen up muscles. With a higher body temperature, electrical signals are able to travel more rapidly along nerve fibers, increasing muscular contraction speed and force and making muscle tissue more pliable. Organs and systems in your body can adapt safely to a gradual increase in heart rate, whereas the opposite is true if you start exercising without warming up appropriately.

Does warming up prevent injury? It sure helps. Does warming up improve performance? For most individuals, yes, it does. Moreover, warm-up exercises improve neural function and coordination, and joints are protected as articular cartilage thickens with the natural accumulation of synovial fluid, a thick liquid located between the joints.

The benefits of warm-up exercises include:

• Improved movement and flexibility and pain management from less muscle tension
• Lower risk of physical injuries with muscles relaxed
• Better range of motion, enabling more complete movement of the joints
• Higher energy levels from hormone production
• Enhanced exercise performance due to increased flow of blood and oxygen

What Are Examples of Warm Up Exercises?

Just as there are a lot of beneficial exercises that can improve your overall health and reduce pain, there are many warm-up routines that can help you get better results from physical training. In fact, a warm-up, ideally, will simply be a lighter version of the exercise you plan to do, where you perform it but at a slower pace and lower intensity. According to Harvard Health, warm-ups should last between 5 and 10 minutes, working all major muscle groups.

For a warm-up to successfully warm you up, it is necessary to engage the entire body, incorporating compound and low-impact movements. The best way to go about warming up for a cardio or strength training exercise that can assist with pain management is to begin slowly and then steadily increase intensity. Exert to the point of perspiration but not exhaustion. After all, you want to be able to get to and complete your planned exercise workout safely.

Walking, jogging, side lunges, planks, jumping jacks, squats, and push-ups are all examples of exercises that can deliver the benefits of warm-up sessions. Pre-workout and post-workout stretching is great as well, particularly when combined with exercise. The physical activity, though, should be suited to your age, health, and fitness level.

What Happens If You Don’t Warm Up Before Exercising?

Individuals who don’t warm up before exercise forgo a plethora of potential health benefits, with one being pain relief. For people living with chronic pain, relief can be life-changing. You increase your risk of musculoskeletal injuries that could cause or exacerbate pain when you skip warm-up exercise. In addition, you place yourself at risk for cardiovascular problems, as exercising strenuously without preparing your body strains the heart and the lungs.

Benefits of Warming Up for Pain Management

There are plenty of health benefits associated with adding warm-up exercises and stretches to an exercise routine. One just needs to go about it the right way. A medical professional can help you determine which exercises and warm-ups are most beneficial for you. If you happen to be a chronic pain sufferer, a pain specialist doctor can work with you to formulate a healthcare management plan for pain that will improve your quality of life.

At Carolinas Pain Center, we have a team of highly trained pain specialists who are well-versed in pain management and pain treatment. Over the years, we have treated thousands of patients with diverse and complex pain conditions.

Struggling with chronic pain? We can help. Set an appointment here and a friendly coordinator will contact you.

Joint pain is relatively common. Joints provide a cushion between your bones and allow you to move, bend, and perform other necessary motions. You can get stiffness or pain from an injury, an illness, or overuse. Chronic joint pain (discomfort that continues for more than three months) can come from arthritis or other stiffness-causing conditions.

Pain can affect any joint in your body, but it is most common in specific areas.

• Shoulder pain can come from arthritis, inflammation, or an injury, such as a dislocated shoulder.
• Knee pain can be due to an injury or overuse, though some chronic conditions, such as tendonitis, bursitis, and gout, can also create discomfort.
• Neck pain can be caused by degenerative conditions, herniated spinal discs, or osteoporosis. Arthritis in the neck can be particularly painful and debilitating.
• Hand and wrist pain is typically a result of arthritis, though nerve disorders can also cause issues.

Regardless of the location of your acute or chronic discomfort, you can adopt healthy habits to manage joint pain. These lifestyle changes can also help protect you from developing certain chronic joint conditions and strengthen your tendons to help you avoid injury and relieve pain.

Diet changes

Food, beverages, and supplements can affect your health in general and your ability to manage joint pain in particular. For example, a diet rich in whole foods can limit inflammation and help you lose weight, which will reduce pressure on your joints.

• Eat more fish. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce inflammation caused by arthritis or acute joint injuries. Salmon, sardines, and mackerel are particularly good choices for this beneficial type of fat.
• Add more servings of colorful vegetables and leafy greens. These two types of food are rich in antioxidants, which can speed healing after an injury or illness.
• Replace sugary foods with fruits and berries. Colorful berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, have a particularly dense concentration of antioxidants. Meanwhile, citrus fruits, like oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits, have a lot of vitamin C, which is necessary for maintaining healthy joints and fighting infections and viruses that can cause temporary stiffness, weakness, and joint pain.
• Drink more water. Water is necessary for proper immune function and digestion. It can also help ensure that your joints are properly lubricated. At the same time, you should limit sugary beverages, which can cause weight gain and lead to inflammation that can exacerbate arthritis.

Other foods, such as whole grains, nuts, and seeds, can also help reduce inflammation and provide low-fat energy that can aid weight loss. By reducing the weight on your joints, these diet changes can help you relieve joint pain.

Fitness and lifestyle changes

Exercise and stretching can help improve joint function and reduce pain, but you also need to follow a proper recovery schedule after working out. Here are some tips.

• Consider yoga. Gentle yoga poses can improve flexibility. They can also improve strength, balance, and posture, which can relieve pressure on your joints, reducing inflammation.
• Move regularly. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to stiffer joints and more pain. Any movement can be helpful. Walking or riding a bicycle every day can be beneficial, as can working in a garden or yard, cleaning around the house, or even dancing.
• Get enough sleep. Your body needs regular sleep to recharge, and proper sleep patterns can reduce inflammation. Studies have shown that arthritis sufferers who do not sleep well experience more pain than those who get a good night’s rest.
• Save time for recovery. Movement is important, but you should know your limits. Gradually increasing your level of exercise is more beneficial for long-term stiffness relief and pain reduction than hard workouts that leave you sore for the next week. If you begin slowly, you will be able to continue the daily movement, which will reduce stiffness and help flexibility.

Get help for your joint pain

Carolinas Pain Center can diagnose and offer support to help you manage conditions like arthritis and recover from acute joint pain. Through examinations and diagnostic tests using ultrasounds and fluoroscopy imaging, our physicians can find the source of your pain and offer a treatment plan. We can also recommend healthy habits for joint pain to help you recover quickly or limit chronic discomfort.

You don’t have to continue suffering from joint pain. Contact Carolinas Pain Center today to schedule an appointment.