Exercise Warm-up and Cool Down

Warm-up shifts blood from the center of the body to the working muscles during the first five minutes of exercise.  If you do this too quickly, the blood vessels will not fully expand and your blood pressure and heart rate will go up too fast.  This is dangerous for people with medical conditions.  In addition, it limits performance and you will fatigue earlier if you warm-up too quickly.  Cool-down is the same as the Warm-up and must last for about five minutes before you stop completely. The ideal way to warm-up and cool-down is to perform the same exercises that you do in the middle of the workout, but do them at a slower pace.  That’s it.

Daniel Steiner, M.Ed., C.D.E., ACSM Exercise Specialist is an In Your Home Healthy Lifestyle Manager.   He designs healthy, productive workouts for persons who want to reach their potential.  For more information, phone or fax to 305.935.4905.