Sometimes, you want to start your exercises without any warm-up session. At the end of the workout, you’re ready to quit, so you don’t bother with cool-down. Doing either of those things is a big mistake. They both help protect you and prevent injury. Skipping these five-minute sessions isn’t an option if you want the most from each session. The process is simple and vital for your health.
Warm-up exercises prepare more than just the arm and leg muscles for exercising.
If you’ve ever gotten up quickly only to feel dizzy or short of breath, it can be similar to exercising without warming up. Warm-up exercises work the muscles you’ll be using without overexerting yourself. It gradually increases your heart rate and breathing. It gets your circulation going. The muscles become more flexible when they’re warmed, so there’s less chance of strains or injury. It allows your blood pressure to rise slowly. You’ll get more from your workout when you warm up and face less chance of injury.
You can prevent pain when you cool down properly.
DOMS—delayed onset muscle soreness—causes severe muscle pain. When you exercise, especially when doing strength training—it causes micro tears in the muscle. Intense exercises cause many micro tears. Unlike normal soreness, DOMS can cause severe pain. The pain is far more severe than normal muscle aches and begins 24 to 48 hours after your workout. One study used cycling to cool down after an intense strength-building session. They found it significantly reduced the potential for DOMS. Cool-down exercises helped the muscles relax and prevented the problem.
Cool down and warm up exercises both remove lactic acid build-up.
If you suddenly increase the body’s need for oxygen, lactic acid builds. It’s why warm-up exercises help. Your body gradually increases its oxygen demand. Too much lactic acid increases blood acidity, creating an imbalance in the body’s pH. It can cause the body to work harder and make you quit too soon. Cool-down exercises help keep circulation slightly higher than otherwise. That helps remove the lactic acid from the muscles and reduces muscle pain. Cool-down sessions can be used to increase flexibility. Your muscles are more flexible when still warm, so it’s the perfect time for range-of-motion stretches. That can prevent future injury.
- Some people stretch to warm up and cool down. The types of stretches are different. Stretching used in warm-ups is dynamic. They mimic the movements you’ll make. Stretching used for cooling down are static stretches that are stretch-and-hold, like touching the toes.
- Warm-up exercises increase your agility. It improves muscle control. It also boosts your reaction time. It can be as simple as walking around if you’re going to run or swinging your arms in the air for upper body workouts.
- You’ll improve your focus when you warm up. It signals your body that you’re ready to exercise and tells the muscles you mean business. The more intense your workout, the more important warming up is.
- If you suddenly quit exercising without cooling down, all the blood can pool in your extremities. That can cause you to get dizzy and lightheaded. You might even faint and fall.
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