Here’s Why Warmups and Cooldowns Need to be Part of Your Workout Routine

Warming up and cooling down are two important components of every fitness routine, but how can you use them to improve the quality of your workout?

Benefits of a Warmup

Although there’s no strict definition for what constitutes a “warmup,” the basic idea is doing an activity or exercise at a slower pace to help prepare the body for more intense aerobic workout.

A warmup gradually engages your cardiovascular system, which raises your body temperature and increases blood flow to the muscles. This improves the elasticity (the stretchiness of muscle tissue) and can help reduce muscle tightness, pain, and risk of injury.

A warmup can also be an exercise in itself. Stretching during or immediately after your warmup can improve your flexibility in both the long and short term. Just remember to stretch after you’ve done a short aerobic exercise to get the blood flowing to your muscles.

Properly warming up before a workout can also benefit your mental state. If you start your fitness routine with heavy weights or a strenuous aerobic fitness routine, you’re more likely to be discouraged. Starting slowly and easing yourself into your exercises gradually prepares you for a full and effective workout.

Benefits of a Cooldown

After you finishing a workout, a 10-minute cooldown allows body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure to return to their normal levels. Stopping an intense exercise abruptly without a cool down can possibly lead to dizziness or even fainting.

Cooldown exercises, like stretching, walking, foam rolling, and deep breathing, can help lower your risk of injury and reduce stress to the heart and other muscles.

If you’re looking to incorporate more stretching into your workout routine, try starting with some beginner yoga poses. Stretching helps improve your flexibility as well as range of motion around the joints, while also benefitting balance and bone health.

This Monday, take a few extra minutes before and after your workout to fit in a warmup and cooldown.

First Things First: Talk to a Doc and Know Your Health Numbers

Are you physically healthy? — Seems like a simple question, right? But if you’re like most people, you might have trouble coming up with an answer.

That’s because health is a tricky thing to quantify.

Now that you’ve decided to incorporate more physical activity or exercise into your daily routine, it’s important to have a foundational understanding of your physical wellbeing. And there’s no easier way to do that than by talking to your doctor and getting to know your “core numbers.”

By knowing these measurements, you’ll be able to approach physical activity with a renewed sense of confidence and safety. And your numbers can serve as the baseline from which you can measure and track your progress.

Research shows that Americans say they are most likely to call to schedule a doctor’s appointment on Monday (40%) than any other day of the week (Tuesday is next at 9% and 30% have no preference for the day of the week).

So, this Monday, make an appointment to meet with your doctor and make sure you leave knowing these core four measurements of health:

Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a widely used formula to measure body fat, and although the calculation has its flaws, most notably its inability to account for factors like bone density and muscle mass, it is still useful in gauging whether you are overweight. BMI is a simple calculation that uses your weight and height. Although you can figure this number out yourself, it’s best to go discuss the details of your BMI with your doctor or physician.

Blood Pressure (BP)

A blood pressure reading measures the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels. Having high blood pressure is often the precursor to heart attack, loss of visions, heart failure, or stroke, which makes knowing and understanding these numbers critical. Blood pressure can fall into five different categories of severity, so it’s best to discuss your blood pressure results thoroughly with your doctor to understand the most appropriate course of action.

Cholesterol

As one of the most discussed indicators of health, your cholesterol is an important number to know. Having high LDL (bad) cholesterol and low HDL (good) cholesterol can lead to the formatting of plaque around the arteries, leading to heart attack, stroke, and a myriad of other health risks.

Blood Sugar

Maybe the most important number to know, high blood sugar indicates that your body doesn’t make insulin or properly use it. Over time, this condition can damage the blood vessels, nerves, and organs. Ask your doctor to check your fasting glucose level or hemoglobin A1C as part of a routine blood test.

This Monday, Start Slow to Build Up to Your Best Workout

Using Monday to begin a new fitness routine is a great step toward a healthier lifestyle. But before you begin working towards new fitness goals, make sure you start slow and give yourself time to ease into a new exercise routine.

It’s common to want to dive right in to a new workout, but it’s crucial that you prepare before starting that first set. Knowing how to do the exercise properly allows you to target the correct muscle and reap all of the benefits while avoiding injury. And many times, the proper form makes the exercise easier to execute.

The first step in preparation for your workout is to come with the proper equipment. Make sure you’re wearing comfortable, breathable clothes and sneakers. Have a bottle of water handy; it’s important to stay hydrated before, during, and after your workout. Once you’ve decided on an exercise routine, set a simple initial workout goal for yourself. Modesty is key, because if you overdo it the first time, you’re more likely to get frustrated, discouraged, or injured.

For example, if walking is your initial exercise of choice, start by aiming to walk at a moderate pace for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you’re looking to build muscle, start with the lightest weights possible or your own body weight. Many household items like water bottles or canned goods can be repurposed into mini weights, so give these a try if you need something a little lighter. If you’re hoping to do something more aerobic, start with short sets of low-intensity mini-workouts or even something as simple as walking up stairs.

Starting slow will not only prevent you from overdoing it, but it will help you assess your current fitness level. To get a better understanding of your progress, use Monday as the day to check in and see how far you’ve come. Plan to spend your first few weeks of exercising as a beginner; this warm up period will do your body a lot of good by easing it into a different physical routine. After your first week, see if you’re ready to move to the next level – then challenge yourself.

Work out the smart way by starting slow, and make every Monday the perfect time to recommit to getting active.