Most active people know that warming up is the single most important thing you can do during a workout — particularly if you sit at a desk all day.
Yet so many of us still don't do it.
And according to ex-sprinter, personal trainer, and founder of 2 Meal Day Max Lowery, even those who are doing some form of warm up could be doing it all wrong.
Lowery told Business Insider: "Think of your muscles like elastic bands. When you're sitting there inactive for eight hours per day those bands get very tight and restricted.
"If you then go and train without releasing and warming those bands you are very likely to snap or tear one."
Though most people accept this as true, Lowery says that the way many of us have been taught to warm up could do more harm than good.
During many top end fitness classes, little emphasis is put on stretching.
Some professionally trained class instructors at many of London's high-intensity interval training (HIIT) studios will conduct extremely hardcore cardio and weights sessions of between 45 and 60 minutes, leaving just a couple on either end for "warming up" and "warming down."
"A lot of people think some static stretching is enough, when in fact static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout," Lowery said.
"An effective warm up should mobilise the joints, activate the CNS (central nervous system), increase core temperature, activate muscle groups, and increase heart rate."
Lowery believes that the only way you can do this is by doing "dynamic movements" and a "mobility sequence."
"This is a much more effective way at priming the body and the CNS," he said.
Here's an example of a "dynamic movement."
"The further you can move your joints through their active range of movement the more mobile you are," he said. "As we age we lose mobility through the joints and become less and less mobile."
He explained that activating your muscles will mean you actually use the right muscles for certain movements. Your abdominals and glutes need special attention, particularly for office workers.
Failing to do so can cause your body to recruit any muscle it seems fit, which can have undesirable affects.
"For example, you could end up building big quads rather than your glutes," Lowery said.
"As a sprinter my race warm up would take a full hour in order for my muscles, joints and nervous system to work in sync to their maximum potential.
"You don’t need to spend an hour but a good 10-20 minutes should be spent warming up if you want to maximise the effectiveness of your workout."
Lowery said the benefits to an effective warm up are two-fold. "Not only are you setting your body to perform at its best, you are also improving your mobility – which has a direct impact on the way your body moves as an integrated unit. It can also help to balance out some of the negative effects that sitting down all day can have on our body."