Welcome back to Get Fit Guy. I'm your host, Dr. Jonathan Sue. Every week, I'll share

science-backed tips to help you get fit, stay fit, and optimize performance. The equinox is here,

and is officially winter this week.

Cold weather will be the norm over the next few months,

unless of course you live in Hawaii.

With temperatures dropping,

warming up your muscles before exercising is even more important.

The benefits of a warm-up are pretty obvious to those who perform higher intensity exercises,

such as interval training, sprinting, or heavy resistance training.

Perform these activities without a proper warm-up,

and you'll notice that your performance drops faster than the temperature during a blizzard in Antarctica.

I know it may be tempting to skip a warm-up and jump right into your workout if you're not

performing higher intensity exercises. I feel that way all the time. That little voice inside says

is not that important and you don't have time. And I always regret it when I do end up skipping out on the warm-up, because I notice a huge

difference when I do it versus when I don't do it. Spending just a few minutes preparing your

body for exercise with a proper warm-up, especially when it's cold, will improve your performance

and reduce your risk of injury.

In this episode, we'll look at why warming up before exercise is especially important when the weather is cold,

and I'll also show you how to perform an effective warm up in just a few minutes.

Have you ever wondered what actually happens to your body when you warm up?

It turns out that one important change among many is an increase in muscle temperature.

Now this may be pretty obvious to you, because why else would a warm-up be named as such?

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