Exercising: Warm Ups and Cool Downs

In most training or workout programs the warm up and cool down phases are very important. The issues I have noticed is that people just jump in right away into hard exercise and just end with hard exercise. This is not healthy especially for someone who has not been training regularly. The warm-up and cool down phase takes about 10 minutes each on a maximum. These don't have to be long but it should be done right.

The Warm-up phase:

Depending on the workout or training a warm-up should be done. A good warm-up should will be from about to 5- 10 minutes. It is important to just get the heart rate up to take the demand of the strength training but not to be over done. I remember once I made the mistake of working at full intensity in 10 minutes and that burned me out that my energy level reduced considerably and I wasn't able to lift effectively at the main workout. Warm-ups are usually aimed at

1) Raising heart rate

2) Preventing injury

3) Getting the muscles and connective tissue warm and ready for lifting.

4) Increased blood flow and thus oxygen.

A good warm-up should have you breaking into a sweat in 5 minutes. The best ones you can do are rope jumping, jumping jacks, split jumps, squat thrusts, shadow boxing. The remaining 5 minutes you spend on a combination of mobility and stretching exercises.

The Cool- down phase

The Cool down helps the heart rate reduce steadily after an intense strength training routine. This can be light back off sets with weights, low impact cardio followed by stretching. This also helps get rid of lactic acid and starts the recovery process. Also it prevents blood pooling in the muscles and starts a proper circulation going again.

Once again 5 - 10 minutes is all it takes to cool down. The focus should be on bringing down the heart rate and returning the body to a more relaxed state.

Introduce these into your training regime as they are important to your heart and blood circulation. Also it prevents injury and enhances recovery.

Courtesy: http://temple-of-fitness.blogspot.in/