The Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down Properly

Sure, I know you are pumped and ready to destroy the weights and post a new record today. However, no matter how anxious you are to start pushing the iron around, it is extremely important that you resist the urge to jump straight to the weights and warm-up properly! Excluding a proper warm-up routine from your time at the gym can do more harm than good. We're not talking hopping up and down for a few seconds here either - we need to get way more involved than that.

Steps to a Proper warm-up

1. Implement low impact aerobic activity
2. Use the muscles you will be training
3. Slowly progress the intensity for 5-10 minutes. You shouldn't be panting, but moving and have your heart pumping.

So now that you have warmed-up properly and completed your workout it is time to cool-down - which is just as important as your warm-up.

So why should I cool-down?

1. Initiates recovery
2. Return heart rate back to normal levels
3. Flush out Toxins

If you experience any dizziness or nausea after working out, it could be due to an improper cool-down process. Your cool-down phase should last about 5-10 minutes. So plan for a little extra time for your workout, warm-up and cool-down properly and you should notice a big difference in the quality of your workout and how you feel afterwards.