Dr. C C Nair

The point of doing a work out is to put your body through the motions and phases before you hit an intense spot of persistent action before cooling down. This helps in giving your body a well-balanced work out. But what many of us do not know is that a good workout schedule will also involve well-paced warm up sessions with exercises that will warm up the body and its various areas as well as the muscles so that the intensity does not hit the body suddenly and result in some sort of injury or undue fatigue.

So get it right with these eight warm up exercises that you aren't doing, but totally should!

1. Dynamic: Follow a dynamic routine and mix it up a little with various kinds of movements that will work the different areas of the body. Start with squats and move on to lunges before you do a few skips to warm up!
2. Jump: Try the jumping rope the next time you hit the gym and watch your heart rate go up just enough to get you all warm and loose, ready for that heavy duty work out. You can start with five minutes of this motion before moving on to your first set.
3. Dance: Did you know that switching on your favourite music and shuffling your feet before you start to gyrate a little can actually get you in the right frame of mind for a work out? So next time, warm up with a little dancing!
4. Balance: Warm up with a balancing act or two. Stand on one leg and do deadlifts with a dumb bell. Repeat the same motion for both arms. This helps in imitating the actual work out that you will be indulging in, which helps in warming up the relevant areas.
5. Stretches: Try doing stretches and jumping jacks for stability and to work your core strength before you hit the gym equipment. This will bring about better blood circulation and help you get your heart ready for the work out.
6. Swing: Use swinging movements with your arms and legs with circles and marches to help loosen up the muscles.
7. Walk: Do the animal walk with crab walks, frog jumps, bunny hops, inch worm motions and much more to unleash your energy.
8. Medicine Balls: Grab some medicine balls and do a few moves like the rotational twist, the front body push, the reverse eight and many more to get your body pumped up.

Warming up is an important part of working out, so remember to get your warm up routine right! If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Physiotherapist.

You are out in public, and a person next to you is incessantly coughing. It is natural to be worried if it is bronchitis and the possibility of you getting infected. Read on to know about the condition and if it is really contagious. Bronchial tubes are the airways in the lungs, and when they are inflamed due to an infection or an underlying medical condition, it results in bronchitis. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic and depending on the cause, may or may not be contagious.

Types of bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis occurs when the airways in the lungs get irritated again and again. Though it’s a severe health condition that requires medical attention, it is not as contagious as it occurs due to the exposure to certain chemicals, dust, cigarette smoke or smoke from a fire, air pollutants that irritate the lungs.

On the other hand, acute bronchitis that usually lasts for one to three weeks is considered to be contagious because this particular type of bronchitis happens due to the flu or cold viruses. It is the infectious properties of the viruses causing it that makes it contagious.

Transmission
In the case of acute bronchitis, since it is caused mainly due to viral infections when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, the viruses get transmitted to others in the surrounding. Hence it can spread quickly.

Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms of acute bronchitis are a hacking cough, production of excessive mucus, shortness of breath, and feelings of discomfort in the chest. Note that as long as the infection is present, acute bronchitis remains contagious. Once the infection is gone, it is no longer contagious, though, the symptoms, like a persisting cough, may stay for several weeks afterward.

People who have asthma or chronic bronchitis sometimes may develop acute bronchitis as a result of further complications of their present lung conditions and not as a result of virus invasion. Therefore, the chances of such acute bronchitis being contagious are less than those caused by influenza viruses or bacteria.

Thus, acute bronchitis due to a viral infection is more contagious than chronic bronchitis that is due to an underlying medical condition like asthma and other lung diseases. With a few simple and effective measures, such contagious infections can be prevented.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!