5 Little Known Benefits of Warming Up & Cooling Down After Exercising
While working out in the gym, I have noticed that many exercisers
tend to skip two very important parts of their workout. It is
crucial that exercisers starts with a warm-up and ends with a
cool-down. As a fitness educator, I educate my clients of why
they should include warm-ups and cool-downs in their workouts.
Warm up before vigorous exercise is crucial. Warm-up prepares
the heart muscle and circulatory system. When you start physical
activity, blood flow is not immediately available to the heart
and muscles. A proper warm-up decreases the risk of irregular
heartbeats associated with poor coronary circulation. A proper
warm-up also improve performance, since it minimizes the
premature formation of lactic acid at the start of physical
activity. In addition, warming up raises the temperature of the
body. For each degree of temperature elevation, the metabolic
rate of the cells increases by about 13 percent.
Another reason is warming up helps prevents injuries. Muscle
elasticity and the flexibility of the tendons and ligaments are
increased. Synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints, is
released during easy activity. In general, warm up prepares the
body for the increased demand of intense exercise.
Warm-ups activities are movement activities. Stretching is not a
warm-up exercise because it does not raise the body temperature.
In fact, an exerciser can tear cold muscles by stretching them.
General warm-up involves calisthenics, stretching, and general
body movements such as slow jog followed by a light streth.Warm
up for about 5-10 minutes depending on the person's fitness level
followed by some light stretching.
Specific warm-up, on the other hand, provides a skill rehearsal
for the actual activity. Swinging a golf club, throwing a
baseball or football are examples of specific warm-up.
I have been working out in a health club setting for almost 10
years. In my experience, I hardly seen anyone do a cool-down
activity. Cool down is also as important as a warm-up. After a
heavy work-out, it is important to spend 5-10 minutes in a cool
down stage. A cool down after the workout is important to
promote an effective recovery from physical activity. Some of
the benefits of a cool down are listed below:
1. The opposite of a warm-up. Respiration, body temperature,and
heart rate are gradually returned to normal, preventing an
irregular beat the may be life threatening.
2. During the cool-down stage, the legs help return the blood to
your heart. Muscle in the legs acts as a pump to bring blood
back to the heart. Suddenly stopping cardiovascular activity
causes blood to pool in the legs instead of circulating to the
brain. Not enough supply of blood in the brain can cause
dizziness or light-headedness.
4. Cool-down can help increase a person's flexibility.
5. Active cool-down also speeds lactate removal from the blood.
There are two parts of a cool-down. First, a person does a light
cardiovascular activity such as walking to lower the heart rate,
body temperature, etc. Then, static stretching should be
followed. Exercisers should stretch all the major muscle groups
for at least 10-30 seconds. The stretch should feel a slight
discomfort but not feel pain. Stretching at the end of the
cool-down can help increase flexibility without causing injury.
Add a warm-up and cool-down to your current exercise regimen and
see the difference.
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes
only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any
disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any
health care program.
Emily Clark is editor at Lifestyle Health News and Medical Health News where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on many medical, health and lifestyle topics.
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