Warm up and cool down
The purpose of a warm up is that your body needs to take a number of adjustments before exercise can commence, these include:
-Increasing your breathing and heart rate
-Increasing the energy-releasing reactions in the muscles
-Promoting blood flow to the muscles to supply them with more oxygen and to remove waste products
These adjustments do not occur instantly, but require a number of minutes to reach the necessary levels, if you do not use a warm up and go straight into the activity, your body will be ill-prepared for the demands being made of it, which may cause injury or unnecessary fatigue. An example of an effective warm-up would be a 5 minute jog or light intensity physical activity, and following this, stretching, to stretch out the muscles and help prevent injury.
The purpose of a cool down is that:
-Helps your heart rate and breathing to return towards resting levels
-Helps avoid fainting or dizziness
-Helps to remove waste products from your muscles, such as lactic acid
-Helps prepare your muscles for the next exercise session
A cool down could include low intensity exercise for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes, followed by a stretching routine. Other options for a cool down are continuing your chosen exercise while gradually lowering the intensity or slow jogging, brisk walking or gentle cycling.
-Increasing your breathing and heart rate
-Increasing the energy-releasing reactions in the muscles
-Promoting blood flow to the muscles to supply them with more oxygen and to remove waste products
These adjustments do not occur instantly, but require a number of minutes to reach the necessary levels, if you do not use a warm up and go straight into the activity, your body will be ill-prepared for the demands being made of it, which may cause injury or unnecessary fatigue. An example of an effective warm-up would be a 5 minute jog or light intensity physical activity, and following this, stretching, to stretch out the muscles and help prevent injury.
The purpose of a cool down is that:
-Helps your heart rate and breathing to return towards resting levels
-Helps avoid fainting or dizziness
-Helps to remove waste products from your muscles, such as lactic acid
-Helps prepare your muscles for the next exercise session
A cool down could include low intensity exercise for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes, followed by a stretching routine. Other options for a cool down are continuing your chosen exercise while gradually lowering the intensity or slow jogging, brisk walking or gentle cycling.