Why Warm-Up and Cool-Down?

Yesterday at the gym, Karen asked why we stretch before and after a workout. It’s an important question and knowing why you’re doing something allows you to get more out of it, so let’s chat.

Warm-Up Before the Workout

First, let’s talk about stretching. I want to be clear about this point, so take a second…close your eyes and take a deep breath. When you’re done, I hope you’ll be ready to understand this…because it’s going to BLOW YOUR MIND!!

You should not stretch to improve your flexibility.  

You read that right.  

Read it again if you need to. Read it as many times as it takes because it’s the truth. Flexibility isn’t what this article is about but to explain quickly, developing flexibility at the expense of good movement or strength puts you in positions you don’t have the ability to hold. That means injuries.  

So why stretch?

To release tight muscles or correct muscular/postural imbalances. 

So, to understand more about what that means for your warm-up let’s talk about what a good warm-up accomplishes.

It loosens your joints, so they move easier.

It establishes good movement patterns.

It raises your heart rate, so your body is ready for more intense activity.

It gets your mind ready for more intense activity. 

Stretching can be a part of it, but it’s there to release tight and/or imbalanced muscles so that good movement patterns can be established. Once again, it is NOT there to improve flexibility. Most warm-ups movements are centered around the hips and shoulders because those tend to be the areas that affect the body’s overall movement the most.

Cool-Down After the Workout

The reasons behind a cool-down are to:

Relax your body and nervous system so that recovery can begin.

Keep blood flow circulating to help prevent excessive soreness.

After a workout, your body and nervous system are amped up. To get your body into recovery mode we need to bring things down a bit, and nothing is better than breathing to help your body relax. Simple lie on your back and take about 10 deep breaths. It can also be a good idea to do some light stretching of any areas you worked hard during your workout.

Without knowing you and your body, it’s impossible for me to suggest any specific exercises but I hope this will at least give you an idea of what to think about when you are both warming up and cooling down. These are important steps in reducing injuries and getting your body ready to get the most out of your workouts.