Why Warm up and Cool Down?

When beginning a workout it is important to begin with a warm up and end with a cool down. In both cases the gentle movements allow the body to begin preparing the systems (musculature, circulatory, and neuro-muscular junctions) to work together. As the systems begin working together your muscles “warm up”. The blood begins flowing to smaller areas and the tissues become more pliable.

Begin by performing some of the same movement patterns you are planning in your workout without the overload of weight or speed. This helps your brain get ready for the more complicated work of compensating for overload. Once the workout is over it is important to let your body “cool down”. This means you are allowing those worked muscles to slow down, blood flow to gradually decrease, and the tissues to settle.

Check out this cool down and stretching routine.

I really like this website and the workouts these two create. It’s a great resource for those of us working out at home.

When we stop moving abruptly the blood can pool in our larger muscle groups and makes us feel dizzy; in addition, performing flexibility training after a workout is important because the muscles are “warm” and the stretch reflectors and proprioceptors are able to more easily stretch. They still need a gentleness to perform at their best, but it will be much easier with less potential for injury if your muscles have good blood flow. The job of these proprioceptors is to make sure you do not harm your tissues.

Try foam rollers to help you obtain a deeper stretch when you are ready for your flexibility training.

When getting ready to cool down, begin moving in similar movement patterns to your workout but at slower speeds and less to not overload. To complete your workout plan, spend 10-15 minutes stretching all muscles of the body a few times each (compound movement stretches save time and are great here). You might want to consider purchasing a good yoga mat or a muscle massage roller. 

Allow your breathing to become deep to take benefit from your increased endorphin flow and set an intention for what’s left of your day.

And as always, if you are struggling to engage fully in your life and would like to see how psychology might be able to help you contact me today!