Some people they may just jump right into the activity and not a second thought about a warm up or cool down. However they are numerous benefits to performing a warm up before exercise and a cool down after.
Lets see why warm up is necessary
A warm up is used to increase blood flow to the muscles going to be trained and decrease muscular stiffness. It is important to target the muscles that will be utilised the most. For instance it wouldn’t make sense to warm up with lunges and have blood rush to your legs when you are warming up for a bench press.
The idea is at increased blood flow to the working muscles which will result in increased oxygen and nutrient delivery to those muscles and decrease the risk of injury.
During a proper warm up the muscles are actually warmed up as in the temperature in those muscles increase. This is useful because our muscles will be able to contract with more force and relax quickly. This results in enhanced speed and strength.
Warm up also improves the muscles elasticity which decreases the risk of pulling side muscles. Risk of injury is decreased because a warm up prepare a muscle for strenuous activity and helps prevent over stretching. A proper warm up will cause the blood vessels to dilate and reduce the resistance of blood flow lowering stress and strain on the heart to pump blood.
A warm up will also prevent our eating by promoting the dissipation of body heat through sweating and it also increases the range of motion for joints which will help decrease the risk of injury. A good warm up exercise would be e to jog for a few minute coupled with sprint’s or brief high intensity running.
A warm up will be different for everyone so find out what works best for you. Recommended time is about 5 to 10 minutes. What upwards of 15 minutes is recommended for the elderly and those recovering from injuries.
10 warm up exercise you can try
| 1. Bear Walk | |
| 2. Book Stretch | |
| 3. Leg Swing | |
| 4. Crab Walk | |
| 5. Scorpions | |
| 6. Squats | |
| 7. Hamstring Stretch | |
| 8. Prone Thoracic Mobilization | |
| 9. Inch Worms | |
| 10. Walking Lizard Lunge |
Benefits of warm up
- Increases our flexibility
- Improves performance of our workout or game
- It helps in better range of motion
- Less muscle tension and pain
- Increase blood flow in our body
- Oxygen level also increases
Don’t do it during Warm Ups
Static stretching. It can temporarily decrease our muscle strength, power and performance.
Why Cool down importance after exercise or match
A cooldown is just the opposite of a warm up but it is justice important. The primary goal of a cool down is researching the body to to baseline values before exercising.
This consist of reducing the breathing to normal levels lower the body and muscle temperature to create size levels and allowed the heart rate to gradually reduced to a normal rate.
By not cooling down after a workout body is not given adequate time to recover and restrain us stretching after exercise will both lengthen and strengthen the muscles which will help with recovery and better prepare the muscles for the next exercise bell.
Cooling down helps to dissipate lactic acid away from the muscles were that’s been concentrated due to exercise. This is important because lactic acid will change the the pH levels in the cells making them more acidic and decreasing the the effectiveness of enzymes involved in in cellular metabolism. Anticipating lactic acid will allow a faster and better covering after exercise.
Blood pooling can occur after stopping exercise suddenly and not going down. During exercise to contracting muscles help to force the blood through the vessels and back to the heart and resist the force of gravity.
By suddenly stopping exercise the muscles are no longer contracting and assisting with the flow of blood.
This allows the still fast flowing blood to pool in the legs due to gravity which cause dizziness and fainting. A cool down should last for a least 5 minutes and should include stretching.
Static stretching holding the the stretch it is recommended and should be performed on the muscles used during the exercise and held for between 12 to 30 seconds.
Note that static stretching is only recommended for a cool down and not a warm up because static stretching can limit muscles force and speed. If you don’t usually warm up and roll down when you exercise, try it next time when you go to the gym and see if you can notice a difference.
8 cool down exercise you can do
| 1. Light jogging | |
| 2. Child’s Pose | |
| 3. Downward Dog | |
| 4. Seated Forward Bend | |
| 5. Head-to-knee Forward Bend | |
| 6. Deep Breathing | |
| 7. Low Lunge | |
| 8. Neck Tilts |
Benefits of cool down
- Regulates our heart rate to normal
- Restores body
- Reduces build up of lactic acid
- Relax our body and also provide stress relief
Cool Down Exercise In Cricket
| 5-10 Minutes | Slow Jog Around the outfield |
| 5-10 Minutes | Static Stretch Focus on relaxing musles |
| 30s-1 Minutes | Foam Rolling |
| 1-2 Minutes | Corpse Pose |
| 2-3 Minutes | Stretch & Relax Hamstring |
| 1-2 Minutes | Lying Knee Roll Over Stretch for spine mobility |
We hope this article will be helpful for your healthy lifestyle and make you better day by day.
Other information to prevent injuries and also why stretching is important written below. Check it out if you have time to read.
Tips : To prevent injuries
| Proper dynamic warm up | |
| Always wear lifting beat | |
| Correct exercise form | |
| Proper cool down exercise | |
| Wear correct foot wear | |
| Take proper sleep |
Why stretching is more important in sports and physical activities ?
- Reduces the risk of injuries before and after.
- Helps our joints move through their full range of motion.
- It enables our muscles to work effectively.
- Reduces our muscle pain, stiffness and soreness.
- It improves performance in sports and our activities.
