Transcript Warm – Up / Cool Down

Warm – Up / Cool Down
Learning Objective
To understand the physiological and psychological
benefits of a warm-up & cool down.
Effective warm-up should include:

General warm-up (pulse raiser)

Stretching

Specific warm up (practice of skills involved)

Psychological preparation (focusing, anxiety
control)
Benefits of warm-up:
Physiological Benefits:
 Better oxygen delivery to muscle tissues
 Improved muscle blood flow
 Increased speed of nerve conduction
 Reduction in likelihood of muscular injury
 Increased heart rate.
Psychological Benefits
 Control anxiety.
 Focus mind.
 Practice skills involved.
Stretching
Must occur after the general warm-up.
 Must be specific to the activity.
 Stretching improves flexibility, increases relaxation
of muscles and improves muscles ability to
withstand the forces involved in exercise.
Stretching can be either static (no movement) or
dynamic (with movement). There are 4 types of
stretching you need to know about:

Active stretching – holding a stretched position by contraction of
your own agonist muscles.
 Increases active flexibility and strengthens agonist muscles. Difficult
to hold for over 10s.
Passive stretching – a stretch position being held by something
other than the agonist muscles.
 Good for cooling down and reducing post-exercise muscle
soreness.
Static stretching – stretch to the limit and then isometrically
contract stretched muscles.
 Much more effective than the previous two for strength and
flexibility.
 E.g. partner holds leg high while you try to push down or ‘push the
wall’ calf stretch.
Ballistic stretching – using movement to ‘bounce’ in and out of a
stretched position. Can cause injury.
 Considered dangerous. Doesn’t allow muscles to adjust to stretched
Benefits of a Cool-Down
Aids removal of waste products (lactic acid).
Reduce potential for delayed onset of
muscle soreness (DOMS).
 Reduce chances of dizziness or fainting
caused by pooling of blood at extremities.
 Reduce level of adrenaline in blood.
 Allow HR to gradually return to normal
rate.


Should include 5-10mins walk/jog and 510mins static stretching.