The Importance of warming up and cooling down for injury prevention.
Whether you are someone who is new to training or an elite level athlete, A good warmup/ cool down routine can make a massive difference to our overall performance and recovery.
There is no need to overcomplicate a good warmup prior to an exercise routine as-long as you cover some basic movement patterns in accordance to the muscle group being targeted.
For example, If you are training chest you could do some arm swings across the body to warm up the chest and shoulders or a warmup set of bench with just the bar to get some blood flowing through the muscles and get the ligaments ready to move some weight.
As for the recommended amount of time spent warming up, It depends on a few different factors. Normally 5 minutes of warming up is more than enough. Under certain circumstances though (I.E injuries or limitations), Some people may need a bit more time than others.
If you are unsure on the perfect warmup routine for your individual needs, It may benefit you to get some help from a fitness professional or physiotherapist to ensure what you in doing is best tailored to your individual needs.
When it comes to a good cool-down that will guarantee the best possible recovery for your body post exercise all you really need to do is focus on getting the heart rate down if you did a high intensity routine and incorporating at-least one of two stretches that will aid muscle recovery for the desired muscle group.
I.E a hamstring and quad stretch after a big leg session or a run.If all these are taken into consideration with your training routine/ program the chances of injury will decrease significantly hence improving overall performance in the gym, the sport we may play and life in general.
We structure specific warm ups and cool down to match the session we are running, if you want us to take care of all your training decisions and results: Reach out here
Written by Blake Stegemann, Coach at Movement Innovation.