It is very important when you are getting back into shape that you remember to warm up and cool down. Stretching is a part of getting started with your warm up, but it isn't the whole part of what you need to do.
Warming up is the first part of your workout and it is the part that helps your body temperature rise to get your muscles ready to exercise. This moves them from their normal state when they are resting to an exercise state. Warm up is what you should do at the beginning of a
workout routine.
Most people will stretch before they warm up, but experts say that you should actually do it the opposite way. The reason is because your muscles will be ready to stretch once they are wormed up. Warming up will loosen stiff muscles before you move on to more rigorous exercise. Also, when you do these preliminary exercises your overall fitness performance will increase.
Some of the exercises that people do to warm up include calisthenics, jumping rope or doing jumping jacks. Warming up on a
yoga mat with Yoga exercises is also a great way to warm up. You can also do a short walk, a short jog or a series of movements.
When you are finished with your workout it is important to cool down. Many people skip this phase, but cooling down is another way to prevent injury. Cooling down is a matter of bringing your
heart rate back to a normal state at the end of your workout. This is necessary to promote overall health.
Some people use a series of deeper stretches to cool down. What many people do not know is that warm-up and cool down parts of the exercise program will improve your flexibility, minimize the aches and pains that can come because of exercise and they can prevent injury.
Many people like to skip these two areas and get right to the middle of their workout. Without the warm up and cool down you can cause injuries that could have been prevented with a few extra steps.
