Importance of warm up before sports

The most important reason for doing a warm up is to prevent injury during exercise; keeping the muscles warm will prevent acute injuries such as hamstring strains and will stave off overuse injuries by allowing the body to prepare steadily and safely. In more static sports, such as cricket, it is a good idea to stretch throughout the game as this will keep the muscles warm and allow them to function effectively; substitutes should also continue to run and stretch while they are waiting to join a game; this is commonly seen in football matches where the substitutes jog, jump and stretch along the sidelines.