Why one shouldn’t skip warm-up or cool-down sessions

WITH our busy lifestyles, it is easy to rush through one’s exercise routine as well.

When there is only 30 minutes or an hour available to work out in the gym, it might seem more efficient to skip the warm-ups and head straight into hard-core workouts and neglect cool-downs.

But while these pre and post sessions don’t always feel like ‘real’ exercise, they do benefit long-term fitness and strength.

Just like the standard exercise routine, make sure that the execution of the movements are correct for maximum benefits.

It always helps to get a professional opinion to avoid injuries and to push one’s body to its full potential.

Why should one warm up?

A warm-up routine helps to pump fresh blood and oxygen to the muscles, preparing them for the workout to come.

Spend 10 minutes doing full-body cardio exercises targeting major muscle groups, which will get the body ready for action.

Should one’s warm-up include stretching?

Recent studies suggest that static stretching, where one holds a stretch, could do more harm than good.

Instead, consider working a dynamic stretch routine into one’s warm-up.

For someone doing a typical gym workout, the warm-up should not be static stretching, but instead a more dynamic, or moving, stretching.

This will warm up the body by getting the heart rate elevated and move the body through a range of motion, but will do so actively.

Dynamic stretching could range from sessions on the treadmill or elliptical bike, to jogging or jumping rope.

One can even start with a yoga flow as warm-up – the point is to keep moving.

Don’t skip the cool-down

The last 10 minutes of your session should be focused on cooling down your muscles and calming your heart rate.

Your cool-down acts as a steady normaliser helping to remove muscle waste such as lactic acid, and assist the normalising of ‘fight and flight’ chemicals such as adrenaline in your blood.

Your cool-down is important to normalise your muscle length through static stretching.

One the byproducts of exercise is muscle bunching.

During sport this may be beneficial, but between your training sessions it leads to hypertonic muscles, increased risk of muscle strain and in long-term cases a loss of joint range of motion.

It is therefore important to stretch out all the muscles you used during your exercise routine.

Are you stretching correctly?

You should hold a stretch for 30 seconds – but don’t bounce, which can cause injury.

You’ll feel tension during a stretch, but you should not feel pain.

If you do, there may be an injury or damage in the tissue. Stop stretching that muscle and talk to your doctor.

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