 Why to Warm Up and Cool Down Is finding time to warm up and cool down before and after your workouts? A warm-up prepares the body for physical activity. This can help your body be more efficient in your workouts. Typically, doing a cardiovascular exercise for five to ten minutes at a low-moderate intensity should get you moving in the right direction. And don't forget the cool down. This should be about five to ten minutes in duration. Flexibility is very important in the cool down because it will help bring the muscles back to their original resting length after the workout. Reasons You Should Warm Up Before Exericse It's true that warming up before a workout helps prevent muscle strain and injury. But if that's not enough to impress you, consider this: Warming up for 5 to 10 minutes enables you to move run, play, maneuver with greater speed. When your muscles are cold, they simply won't move as fast. Important points: - Warming up simply means doing light aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, or easy cycling. Your warm-up activity should be comfortable, not forced or strenuous. - Warming up and stretching are two different things. Be sure to warm up first, then ease into stretching. (Stretching cold muscles can cause muscle tears.) Break a Sweat During Warm-up Are you taking your pre-exercise warm-ups too lightly? If you don't begin to sweat, the answer could be yes. A warm-up is a low-intensity cardiovascular exercise performed for 5 to 10 minutes until perspiration begins. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling are just a few examples of warm-ups. It's important to note that strength-training workouts - and not just cardiovascular exercise - should be preceded by a warm-up. If you exercise working muscles that are not adequately warmed up, you could increase your risk of injury. Why You Need to Cool Down After a vigorous or even moderate workout, your body needs a cool-down. This is a period of continuous, low-intensity activity -- in order to return safely to a resting level. Performed at a slow pace, any aerobic activity can serve as an effective cool-down. Here are a few different ways to cool down: walking jogging cycling swimming The 120 Rule for Cooling Down How long should a cool-down be? Experts say that you should not stop continuous movement until your heart rate is below 120 beats per minute. If you've had heart problems of if you're taking medication that slows the heart rate, you may need to cool down to a lower heart rate; ask your physician or trainer for guidance. One more thing: Remember that cooling down and stretching are not the same - but they're both very important. Cool down first, and then do your stretches. Stretch Yourself Stretching is a must for a good workout. Stretching prevent injury, increase performance, increase body awareness, and can reduce the overall stress on your body. To get the most benefit from a stretching routine: - Always warm-up before stretching . - Stretching should not include "bouncing" the muscles. - Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds. Repeat this stretch approx. 3 to 5 times to ensure a good stretch. - Do not over-stretch or you risk pulling a muscle. Ease into any stretch.. Breathing Helps Your Stretch To get the best results from each stretch you do, pay attention to how you are breathing: - Don't hold your breath. Sometimes when concentrating on a specific movement or position, it's easy to "forget" to breathe. Many people do this when first learning strength-training exercises also. - Take deep, slow breaths. Concentrate on bringing air deep into your lungs so that your abdomen rises when you inhale. (In contrast, a sign of shallow breathing is that the upper chest rises when you inhale.) - Listen to soft or classical music while stretching. This will help you maintain a slow, rhythmic breathing pattern. Two-person Stretching: Twice as Nice One great partner stretch is the following: - Lie on your back and lift one leg as far as you comfortably can on your own. - Your partner then places his or her hand against your calf and applies gentle pressure, as if to push your leg back a bit further. - You resist the pressure by pressing your leg against your partner's hand. - In resisting this pressure, your muscles contract and relax and in relaxing, the muscles are able to stretch a bit further. Long Versus Short Stretching When it comes to how long you hold a stretch, there apparently is more flexibility (so to speak) than you might have thought. A recent study compared the effects of 30-second hamstring stretches to 10-second hamstring stretches. Twice a day, study subjects stretched each leg for a total of one minute: Two 30-second stretches on one leg and six 10-second stretches on the other. At the end of 6 weeks, there was no real difference; the subjects had increased their range-of-motion about the same amount in each leg. Bottom line: It's the total stretching time daily -- and not how long you hold each stretch -- that matters. Warm Up & Cool Down Quick Facts 1. Always warm up before starting strength-training workouts. 2. Gradually decrease your intensity as you finish a cardio workout; do not stop abruptly. This can be hard on your heart and your body. 3. Cool-downs help prevent muscle soreness, dizziness and fainting. 4. Maintain your fluids before, during and after your workout. It's easy to forget to rehydrate and the maintain hydration, however, hydrated muscles perform much more efficiently than dehydrated muscles.
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