Warming Up & Cooling Down for Exercise


Why Warm Up?

  • increases the blood flow through your muscles
  • raises muscle temperature; a warmed muscle both contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly
  • enhancing both speed and strength
  • increases delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles
  • prepares your muscles for stretching; probability of overstretching a muscle and causing injury is far less
  • prepares your heart for an increase in activity
  • prepares you mentally for the upcoming exercise
  • increases the speed of nerve impulses to muscles, enabling athletes to achieve faster reaction times

Do warm-up excercises prevent leg injuries?

  • Investigated the effect of a structured warm-up program designed to reduce the incidence of knee and ankle injuries in young people participating in sports
  • In the study period and across both the no warm-up and warm-up groups, 1837 players took part in the study. Among all players, during the season 262 players contracted 298 injuries.
  • Statistical analyses showed that players in the no warm-up group had significantly more injuries than players in the warm-up group, indicating that the warm-up exercises had been effective in preventing injury.
  • For many types of injury, players in the control group who did not use the warm-up exercise were about twice as likely to be injured than players in the intervention group.

Effective Warming up

  • Is one that increase your heart rate and breathing, and slightly increase the temperature of your muscle tissue
  • a good indication is warming up to the point where you have raised a light sweat
  • if you’re exercising for general fitness, allow 5 to 10 minutes for your pre-exercise warm-up (or slightly longer in cold weather)
  • if you are exercising at a higher level than for general fitness, or have a particular sporting goal in mind, you may need a longer warm-up, and one that is designed specifically for your sport

General Warming up

  • do 5 minutes of light and low intensity physical activity such as:
    • Walking
    • Jogging on the spot
    • Jumping on a trampoline
  • Pump your arms or make large controlled circular movements with your arms to help warm the muscles of your upper body.

Spot Specific Warm-up

  • to perform the upcoming exercise at a slow pace
  • this will allow you to simulate at low intensity the movements you are about to perform at higher intensity during your chosen activity
  • Examples includes a few minutes of:
    • easy catching practice for cricketers or baseball players
    • going through the motion of bowling a ball for lawn bowlers
    • shoulder rolls, side-stepping and slow-paced practice hits for tennis players
    • jogging for runners

Stretching

  • Best performed after your muscles are warm, so only stretch after your general warm-up
  • Stretching muscles when they are cold may lead to a tear
  • Static stretching (stretching a muscle and holding it in this position without discomfort for 10-30 seconds) is the safest method of stretching
  • A static stretch should be held at the point where you can feel the stretch but do not experience any discomfort
  • If you feel discomfort, ease back on the stretch
  • Do not bounce when holding the stretch
  • Don’t spend so long doing your stretches that your muscles cool down and your heart rate returns to normal.

Cooling Down

  • helps your heart rate and breathing to return towards normal gradually
  • helps avoid fainting or dizziness, which can result from blood pooling in the large muscles of the legs when vigorous activity is stopped suddenly
  • helps prepare your muscles for the next exercise session, whether it's the next day or in a few days' time
  • helps to remove waste products from your muscles, such as lactic acid, which can build up during vigorous activity

The information in this presentation does not constitute professional medical advice. If professional medical advice is required, the services of a competent medical professional should be sought. Neither HC Chang Orthopaedic Surgery Pte Ltd nor any director or employee of HC Chang Orthopaedic Surgery Pte Ltd shall be liable for any damage or loss of any kind on any ground whatsoever suffered as a result of any use of or other reliance on this presentation.