Is your work out complete?

Are you ever running behind schedule and think to yourself, “Do I really need to warm-up before I work out?” Do you ever finish your basketball game and head straight for the shower? Having both a warm-up and a cool down period is a crucial part of any exercise program. Whether you are competing in a triathlon, lifting weights, taking a water aerobics class or playing basketball with your kids, it is important to make both a warm-up and a cool down part of your plan.

A proper warm-up produces physiologic changes that reduce the risk of injury as well as make the exercise session more comfortable. Some benefits of a warm-up are as follows:

1. It permits a gradual metabolic adaptation, which enhances cardiorespiratory performance.

2. It prevents early onset of lactic acid build-up, which causes fatigue when exercising at high levels.

3. It gradually increases muscle temperature, which reduces the chance of muscle injury.

4. It improves blood flow to the heart in early stages of conditioning exercise, which decreases the potential of myocardial ischemia.

5. It gradually shunts blood flow to active muscles where it is needed.

A warm-up is a slow, rhythmic exercise of the larger muscle groups, which is performed before an activity. This helps the body to adjust to the activity. The warm-up should be made up of 2 parts. The first is a gradual aerobic warm-up activity of 5 to 15 minutes. This can be the same activity as the planned exercise, at a much lower level. For example, If you are going to go running, you may warm-up with a walk and progress it to a jog. The second component should be should consist of stretching and flexibility exercises that are specific to the planned activity. For example, stretch the hamstrings, quadriceps and Achilles tendons, before you run or hike.

The purpose of a cool down is to slowly reduce the heart rate and metabolism back to pre-exercise levels. The benefits of a cool down session are as follows:

1. It prevents the sudden pooling of blood in the veins and too rapid of a drop in blood pressure, which reduces the chance of lightheadedness or fainting.
2. It reduces the tendency for muscle spasms or cramping.
3. It reduces delayed muscle stiffness. (So you’re not as sore the next day)
4. It decreases the high level of “exercise hormones”, which can reduce disturbances in heart function. (Puts a weak heart at risk) .

The cool down period should last from 5 to 15 minutes. It should consist of a gradual decrease in aerobic level, followed by several minutes of stretching to the muscles that were worked. A thorough cool down can be especially important if you have certain medical conditions. For example, if you have asthma, it is imperative that you extend the warm-up and cool down portions to a minimum of 15 minutes. This is recommended in order to reduce the chance of an asthma attack.

So, the next time your working out and you think of rushing through or even cutting out your warm-up or cool down, consider that you might end up with an injury and a visit to your physical therapist. If you have any questions about your exercise program, or aren’t sure how to get started, you might be interested in the supervised fitness training for Santa Cruz program here at COAST Physical Therapy Services Stop by, or give us a call. We’d love to help.