You may be someone who rushes or skips your warm-up or cool-down -- or both -- because you are short on time and you want to squeeze as much quantity and quality out of your workout as possible. However, both warming up and cooling down are crucial to prevent injury. Both can also improve the quality of your current and future workouts by improving the muscles' range of motion, maximizing their performance capacity in future workouts.
Type of Exercise
Warm-ups and cool-downs should involve exercising the muscles used in the workout, albeit at a lower intensity. If you are cycling, your warm-up and cool-down should involve at least 5 to 10 minutes of cycling at a low resistance. If you are doing upper-body resistance training, an upper-body ergometer or elliptical with arm levers is ideal since it increases blood flow and range of motion in the upper body, preparing it for more intense exercise.
Warm-Up Intensity
Warm-ups should be at approximately 50 percent of your maximal capacity. The goal of a proper warm-up is to increase the temperature of the target muscles, improving range of motion and reducing the perceived exertion of the following workout. Although greater intensities lead to greater increases in temperature, research published in "Sports Medicine" showed warm-up intensities greater than 60 percent of maximum depleted muscle energy and impaired performance. You should feel yourself break a light sweat, but not feel fatigued by the end of the warm-up.
Warm-Up Duration
Warm-up duration should be at least 5 minutes, preferably 10 minutes, and should precede any stretching. Before activity, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are less flexible and may be more susceptible to strain when stretched. Additionally, excessive stretching may lead to temporary losses in strength and power, according to a 2001 publication by Church and colleagues. Therefore, to minimize overall injury risk and maximize muscular performance during your workout, you should save the bulk of your stretching for after your cool-down.
Cool-Down Basics
The goal of the cool-down is to gradually reduce heart rate. During exercise, the heart is working hard to pump plenty of blood to the muscles, and the contraction of the muscles keeps this large volume of blood moving throughout the body. If you stop abruptly, blood will continue to go to the muscles, but the muscles have stopped contracting; this can cause blood to pool in the muscles and lead to a feeling of dizziness or light-headedness. To minimize this effect, spend at least 5 minutes performing your activity at a reduced intensity, or until your heart rate and breathing are under control.
Cool-Down to Improve Muscular Endurance
To improve muscular endurance, extend the length of your cool-down to at least 10, preferably 15 or 20 minutes. After high-intensity interval training or weight training, begin your cool-down at a moderate intensity, gradually working your way down to an easy pace. Performing sustained exercise while your muscles are tired will improve muscular endurance.
Addition to Cool-Down
Following cool-down, spend at least 5 minutes stretching key muscles. At this point, your muscles are at their peak range of motion and thus can derive the greatest benefits from stretching. Consistent stretching improves range of motion, maximizing muscular capacity in future workouts.
References
- "Sports Medicine"; Warm-Up and Stretching in the Prevention of Muscular Injury; Woods et al.; September 2007
- "Sports Medicine"; Performance changes following active warm up and how to structure the warm up; Bishop; July 2003
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; Effect of warm-up and flexibility treatments on vertical jump performance; Church et al.; August 2001
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