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Warm Up & Cool Down

It is vitally important to take the time to properly warm up before and cool down after exercise.

Here's why:

Warm Up

1. Allows your metabolism (oxygen consumption, etc.) to increase gradually which improves the performance of the heart and lung systems
2. Helps to prevent the accumulation of lactic acid in the blood which would slow you down in upper level aerobic activities
3. The temperature of your muscles increase, which means less likelihood of muscular injuries
4. Facilitates neural transmission for motor unit recruitment. (plain English translation: Prepares nerve-muscle fiber connections for efficient firing)
5. mproves coronary blood flow in early stages of the conditioning exercise, lessening the potential for myocardial ischemia (English translation: You are less likely to die)
6. Provides a sort of a screening mechanism for potential problems - musculoskeletal or heart - which might otherwise increase at higher intensity levels
7. Provides a psychological warm-up to higher levels of work (i.e., increases arousal and focus on exercise)

Cool Down

1. Prevents blood pooling and too rapid a drop in blood pressure, thereby reducing the likelihood that you will become light-headed or faint
2. Reduces the risk of post-exercise muscle cramps
3. Reduces the concentration of exercise hormones (e.g. norepinephrine) that are at relatively high levels immediately after vigorous aerobic exercise
4. This reduction will lower the probability of post-exercise disturbances in cardiac rhythm (You are less likely to die)

Generally speaking, the best way to warm up for any exercise is to perform that same exercise at a much lower intensity level and gradually increase that intensity - or at least to work the same muscles that will be worked in the primary exercise activity.