The warming up aims to prepare the body for the upcoming exertion, transitioning it from a passive to an active state. Conversely, the cooling down reverses this process, returning the body to a state of rest. So, from active to passive.
This is a brief description of the effects of warming up and cooling down. For a complete description including the treatment of various studies on the effects of warming up and cooling down, please refer to the extensive article: “Warming up”.
Warming up
When starting a workout or participating in any other type of activity or competition, your heart rate can increase significantly. The average resting heart rate is around 70 beats per minute (depending on your fitness level). For elite athletes, this may be lower, around 40 or even 30 beats per minute. When you start your training, your heart rate can increase up to 190 beats per minute. It’s important to prepare your body for this so that the heart can adapt.
Function of warming up
When you start the warming up, you transition the body from a passive to a more active mode (“sympathetic nervous system”). This brings about several changes, such as:
1. Increase in heart rate
As the heart rate increases, along with the volume of the heart muscle, more blood is pumped around the body. This blood carries oxygen, which the body needs more of in the active mode.
2. Opening of the airways
In addition to the heart, blood flow to the lungs also increases, benefiting the increased oxygen demand.
3. Elevated body temperature
The active mode generates more heat. This heat needs to dissipate from the body, hence you start to sweat. The produced waste products exit the body along with the sweat.
4. Increased brain activity
Along with the body, the mind also shifts from passive to active.
Structure
There are many different ways to perform a warming up. The main distinction can be made between:
General warming up
This is the part that many people will be familiar with. The circulation warm-up involves jogging or brisk walking, for about 5 to 15 minutes. The goal is to raise your body temperature, loosen your muscles, and activate your heart, lungs, and nervous system.
Sport-specific
After completing the circulation warm-up and stretching your muscles, you can (optionally) move on to the second part of the warming up, which is the sport-specific warm-up. With this last part, you prepare your body for the movements you will be doing during the training or competition. In addition to preparing the body, you also prepare the mind. If it’s strength training, you can use the first set(s) of your first exercise for a specific muscle group. For example, take a weight with which you can perform at least 20 repetitions and perform them slowly and controlled. For example, by performing the exercise in both directions (concentric and eccentric) in at least 3 seconds.
Cooling down
As mentioned in the opening of this post, the warming up is intended to transition the body from passive to an active mode. After the activity, the goal is to transition the body from active to passive. This has the advantage of gradually bringing the body to rest and allowing waste products present in the body to be removed. This can help prevent, among other things, lactic acid buildup. However, this does not guarantee prevention of muscle soreness.
Cooling down sequence
If you want to perform a proper cooling down, you should follow these guidelines:
5 minutes of light jogging or walking
This helps lower the body temperature and allows most waste products from the muscles that have been working to be removed from the body.
5 minutes of stretching
Stretching is especially important after training. When you stretch the muscles, waste products are released, and the muscles return to a normal temperature. Do not do this before training or as part of your warming up. Stretching has a relaxing, even numbing effect. Not what you want when you still need to be active.
