How To Warm Up and Cool Down

Warming up and cooling down are two very important and key elements in a good and thorough workout routine.  These two activities can prevent pain and injuries for anyone who exercises.  Good warm up and cool down routines play essential roles in maintaining the body before, during, and after a workout.

• A warm up is exactly what the words describe.  Warming up is how you get into an exercise mode.  A good warm up should start out slow, doing repetitive things like squats or lunges.  These simple, repetitive, non-strenuous activities serve to increase the heart rate, get the blood flowing, and get the person who is exercising in an appropriate state of mind for the workout routine.  Stretching is another essential step in the warm up.  Stretching can prevent muscles from becoming sore, because stretching enables blood to flow through the tissues, which decreases inflammation.

Simple and repetitive can mean just about anything.  If it is some activity that you have made up yourself, that's perfectly okay. Those are usually the activities with which a person feels most comfortable.  A workout does not have to be designed for it to be effective.  Sometimes the best way to keep ourselves interested in a workout routine is to make it up on our own.  Warming up for a workout can be treated in the same regard.  Your course of action for a warm up would logically have something to do with your workout.  If you plan to do upper body training, then find a simple, repetitive, non-strenuous exercise to do that can get your heart rate up and involves your arms.  Having a good healthy heart rate can prevent some dangerous side effects involved with throwing yourself immediately into a very strenuous activity.

• Cooling down after a workout is just as important as warming up.  The most important part is the breathing.  Be very aware of your breath. Try to control your breathing.  Notice your inhalation of breath and your exhalation of breath.  If you understand your breathing, you have more control over how long you will breathe hard.  It feels good to stretch after a workout.  Stretch in whatever way feels most comfortable.  It is important not to cool down too quickly, as a cold can be caught.  Keep moving by walking around, and keep the blood flowing until the heart rate begins to slow, and after the heart rate has slowed down, you will have accomplished your cool down.