Warm-up Activities

Tool/Technique	Warm-up Activities
Purpose (goal):	Three key phases to exercise are the warm up, training, and the cool down. During the warm-up you ready the body for what’s to come. In the middle phase, you perform the strenuous work. And in the cool down period, you bring your body back to a resting state. A warm up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity (a “pulse raiser”), joint mobility exercise, and stretching, followed by the activity. For example, before running or playing an intensive sport, athletes might slowly jog to warm their muscles and increase their heart rate. It is important that warm ups be specific to the activity, so that the muscles to be used are activated. The risks and benefits of combining stretching with warming up are disputable, although it is generally believed that warming up prepares the athlete both mentally and physically. In a meta-study of 32 high quality studies, about four-fifths of the studies showed improvements in performance. Why Should We Warm Up to Start a Class? Imagine you want to run a race. What’s the one thing that everyone will tell you to do before you start? That’s right, you need to stretch! If you don’t, you could be sore afterwards or even injure yourself while running. It’s the same with most other activities. Just think: athletes, dancers, singers and actors all warm up before their respective activities.
Description / instruction:	A warm up activity is a short, fun game which a teacher or trainer can use with students. The purpose of a warm up is to: • encourage the students • wake them up – first thing in the morning and after lunch people are often a little sleepy • prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds and/or their bodies. A warm up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity (a “pulse raiser”), joint mobility exercise, and stretching, followed by the activity. For example, before running or playing an intensive sport, athletes might slowly jog to warm their muscles and increase their heart rate. There are two main types of warm ups: General & Specific. Each workout must begin with a general warm up. The warm up period will last 5-10 minutes; or as long as you think until you are ready. Warming up prior to a workout drastically reduces your chance of injury.
Examples:	6 Sizzling Warm-up Activities for ESL Classes Music with Movement 1. “The Hokey Pokey” This well-known popular song lends itself to a fun dance warm-up for any age group. The lyrics are simple and repetitive and the movement is obvious: Just form a circle and do what the song tells you to do. And yes, you should dance, too! You should also make sure you have plenty of room to create a circle of students. Invent your own movement for the part when it says “you do the hokey pokey,” such as spinning arms or heads while you “turn yourself around.” Three minutes after laughing your way through this dance, you can get down to the class activity. For a variation on this activity, you can play with lighting (turn off the lights and leave a string of flashing Christmas lights for a disco effect). A few other vintage songs that include dance that can be used for this type of warm-up include: “Let’s Twist Again” “The Locomotion” “YMCA” 2. “Knee Play 5” Named after a song by Philip Glass, this hypnotic and repetitive warm-up incorporates upper-body movement and gives your students five full minutes of relaxing, yoga-like exercise, with a secret listening exercise at the end. Here’s how to do it: Students should stand with plenty of space to lift their arms. Start the song. When the lyrics start, you’ll hear a chorus counting off numbers. The numbers will be in the following sequence, and you should instruct the students to move their arms and breathe differently for each sequence: 1 2 3 4 (Students raise their arms in front of their bodies while inhaling) 1 2 3 4 5 6 (Students open their arms to the side while holding their inhaled breath) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (Students raise their arms above their heads and then lower them to the sides while slowly exhaling) Now you come to the secret part of the activity. As the singers are counting, in the background you’ll hear actors reciting seemingly-unconnected sentences. And in fact, they are basically random at first, but at about 3:30 a speaker begins to recite a charming love story! You shouldn’t tell your students beforehand, but once they’re sitting down again, ask them to remember stray words or phrases they heard throughout the exercise. Going further, ask them to try to retell the love story. Ask specific questions, like: “What was the man’s name?” “How did he explain his love for her?” Finally, let the exercise go for now and get on with your class. Days later, do the same warm-up. This time, the students will probably anticipate that you’ll ask about the lyrics. They may pay more attention. Again, don’t specifically instruct them to do so. There’s no quiz and there are no right answers. It’s just a pleasant way to get ready to focus, and to have the experience of understanding some English without having been asked to do so. Sing Along with Me Plus, they’re just fun for you and for your students! 1: Just a Minute https://youtu.be/XwCLk9bXQTs 2: 5-Minute Debate 3: Proofreading/Editing 4: The Alphabet Game 5: Boggle
Pros:	There are four key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm-up. These elements consist of the general warm-up, static stretching, a sports-specific warm-up, and dynamic stretching. A warm up activity is a short, fun game which a teacher or trainer can use with students. The purpose of a warm up is to: • encourage the students • wake them up – first thing in the morning and after lunch people are often a little sleepy • prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds and/or their bodies. Warm ups should last about 5 minutes. Warm ups are particularly useful: • to help new students or trainees to get to know each other • to mark the shift when students have finished learning about one topic before starting on a new topic. Warm up activities are essential teaching techniques for good teacher and trainers.
Cons:	Warm-Up Mistakes to Avoid!!! A proper warm-up will prepare your body for activity by hitting all your muscles in a systemized way. For example, you want to focus on your hip flexors first and then move on to your glutes. This ensures all of your muscles are on and working together. The problem is not everyone warms up the right way, which can cause more harm than good. Here are two of the most common mistakes to avoid when warming up: 1. You don’t address muscle tightness first. If you are really tight (which most people are), it can be difficult for you to do a proper warm-up effectively. Addressing these muscles first with a foam roller or lacrosse ball will loosen them up and allow you to reap the benefits of your warm-up. 2. You use static stretching as a warm-up. Stretching should be done after activity as part of your cooldown. I know stretching before a workout seems like the natural order, but studies show that static stretching can actually decrease your performance. In other words, you are better off not warming up at all than warming up with stretching.
Tips:	There are 3 types of stretches: – ballistic, – dynamic, and – static Ballistic Stretches involve bouncing or jerking. … Static Stretches involve flexing the muscles. … Dynamic Stretching involves moving the body part in the desired way until reaching the full range of motion, to improve performance.
Sources / resources	www.teachingenglish.org.uk › article › warmer www.eenet.org.uk › resources › docs › cambodia_warmups en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Warming_up www.jkyfitness.com › blog › general-specific-warm-up en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Warming_up www.sharecare.com › health › what-three-phases-exercise https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-warm-up-activities/ https://eslspeaking.org/top-5-esl-warm-up-activities/ https://blog.mapmyrun.com/do-i-really-need-to-warm-up-before-a-workout-2/