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The Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down

............................................................... by William Beaver.................................................................

Warming up your body before exercise is much like starting your car on a cold winter's morning, when you know the engine temperature should be at a certain part on the guage before driving. Warming up allows you to increase body temperature gradually so the shock of exercise to your system doesn't cause injury. There are three distinct phases in a proper warm-up: the general warm-up, flexibility work, and the warm-up exercises which are sports specific. Each phases gradually increases the intensity of physical activity and leads to a smooth transition into the most strenuous parts of your sports workout.

During the first phase, the general warm-up, the goal is to raise the internal temperature of the body, and lubricate the joints and muscles. The best way to accomplish this requires using large muscle groups like the legs. Activities such as running in place, calisthenics, or riding a stationary bicycle are excellent for this purpose.  The signal that you have achieved the goal of the general warm-up phase is a light to medium sweat that covers your body. If you're already familiar with exercise, you also know that there is a general feeling, both mentally and physically, of loosening and relaxing the body.  The next phase, flexibility training, greatly reduces the risk of injury caused by tight, unprepared muscles and joints. Studies have shown that flexibility training significantly reduces the risk of soft-tissue injury in most sports programs. An added benefit of flexibility training comes from removing resistance to movement, which then increases speed.  Flexibility exercises should be approached with caution, since damage to the muscles can keep you from training for months. Always start slowly and then gradually increase the intensity of the stretch. In another column, we will discuss flexibility training in more detail.  The final phase includes warm-up exercises which are specific to your individual sport or activity. I once saw the most amazing warm-up being conducted by a world-class powerlifter competing in the clean-and-jerk event, which is you would recognize as huge men firsting lifting, then pressing tremendous amounts of weight straight over their heads. This particular athlete was standing in the middle of the field outside the gym, and for a full fifteen minutes did nothing but the three basic movements of his event, empty-handed, using no weights.  Rehearsing the specific movements of your sport while warminng up allows the body to set and reset all the body internal controls. An added psychological advantage is that these sports-specific warm-ups serve to mentally focus you on the activity you're about to begin.  After completing your sports session, you should always cool down, by gradually decreasing the level of physical activity. This cool-down helps the body readjust it's internal physical controls, and reduces the risk of injury which can occur when you abruptly stop exercising.  If you've ever developed a pain in your sides while exercising, then you know the effects of lactic acid, a waste product of the muscles created during physical exercise. The natural reaction when the pain comes is to stop exercising, but then the pain can take twenty minutes or more to disappear.  The best thing to do with the pain of lactic acid build-up is to gradually cool-down. Walk around slowly and do some easy stretching exercises. The whole cool-down period should last five to ten minutes, but you'll notice that as you stick with the cool-down phase, the pain of lactic acid disappears far more rapidly.  All exercise and strenuous physical activity should follow the same three level program: warm-up, your activity, then cool- down. If you do, you should notice a better physical performance.

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