Fitness & Nutrition

The Benefits of Warm Up and Warm Down

he Benefits of Warm Up and Warm Down

 

Most athletes perform some type of regular warm up and cool down during training and racing. A proper warm up can increase the blood flow to the working muscle which results in decreased muscle stiffness, less risk of injury and improved performance. Additional benefits of warming up include physiological and psychological preparation.

Benefits of a Proper Warm Up:

  • Increased Muscle Temperature - The temperature increases within muscles that are used during a warm up routine. A warmed muscle both contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly. In this way both speed and strength can be enhanced. Also, the probability of overstretching a muscle and causing injury is far less. Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles
  • Increased Body Temperature - This improves muscle elasticity, also reducing the risk of strains and pulls.
  • Blood Vessels Dilate - This reduces the resistance to blood flow and lower stress on the heart.
  • Improve Efficient Cooling - By activating the heat-dissipation mechanisms in the body (efficient sweating) an athlete can cool efficiently and help prevent overheating early in the event or race.
  • Increased Blood Temperature - The temperature of blood increases as it travels through the muscles, and as blood temperature rises, the amount of oxygen it can hold becomes reduced. This means a slightly greater volume of oxygen is made available to the working muscles, enhancing endurance and performance.
  • Improved Range of Motion - The range of motion around a joint is increased.
  • Hormonal Changes - Your body increases its production of various hormones responsible for regulating energy production. During warm up this balance of hormones makes more carbohydrates and fatty acids available for energy production.
  • Mental Preparation - The warm up is also a good time to mentally prepare for an event by clearing the mind, increasing focus, reviewing skills and strategy. Positive imagery can also relax the athlete and build concentration.
  • Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles
  • Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because hemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures
  • Facilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity
  • Increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures
  • Allows the heart rate get to a workable rate for beginning exercise

Typical Warm up exercises include:

  • Gradually increasing the intensity of your specific sport. This uses the specific skills of a sport and is sometimes called a related warm up. For runners, the idea is to jog a while and add a few sprints into the routine to engage all the muscle fibres.
  • Adding movements not related to your sport in a slow steady manner: calisthenics or flexibility exercises for example. Ball players often use unrelated exercise for their warm up.
  • Which to choose? The best time to stretch a muscle is after it has an increased blood flow and has increased temperature to avoid injury. Stretching a cold muscle can increase the risk of injury from pulls and tears. So you are better off doing gradual aerobic exercise before stretching. Keep in mind that the best time to stretch is after exercise because your muscles are warm and pliable with the increase of blood in them. Make sure your warm up begins gradually, and uses the muscles that will be stressed during exercise.
  • Keep in mind that the perfect warm up is a very individual process that can only come with practice, experimentation and experience. Try warming up in various way, at various intensities until you find what works best for you.
Why athletes warm up

Why athletes warm up

Athletes not only warm up to physically prepare their bodies for training or competition but also to mentally warm themselves up. Warm ups are a crucial part of performance. If completed correctly they enable the body to perform at its peak performing ability at the current time.

There are three different types of warm ups:

  • Gradual increase of physical activity to raise the pulse (Eg. cycling)
  • A joint mobility exercise
  • Stretching and a sport related activity (Eg. dribbling for basketball)

A warm up should be specific to the task required to perform in order to activate the correct energy systems and prepare the correct muscles. There are many beneficial effects from warm ups including;

  • Increased heart rate. This enables oxygen in the blood to travel faster meaning the muscles fatigue slower, also, the synovial fluid between the joints is produced more to reduce friction in the joints, the capillaries dilate and it lets more oxygen travel in the blood.
  • Higher temperature in the muscles. This decreases the thickness of the blood-letting the oxygen travel to different parts of the body quicker, it also decreases the viscosity within the muscle, removes lactic acid, lets the muscles fibres have greater extensibility and elasticity and an increase in force and contraction of muscles.

Muscle stiffness is thought to be directly related to muscle injury and therefore the warm up should be aimed at reducing muscle stiffness.

Warming up should at least consist of the following:

Cool Down

Cooling down should consist of the following:

  • 5 to 10 minutes jogging/walking - decrease body temperature and remove waste products from the working muscles
  • 5 to 10 minutes static stretching exercises

Static stretches are more appropriate to the cool down as they help muscles to relax, realign muscle fibres and re-establish their normal range of movement. These stretches should be held for approximately 10 seconds.

What are the benefits of a cool down?

An appropriate cool down will:

  • aid in the dissipation of waste products - including lactic acid
  • reduce the potential for DOMS
  • reduce the chances of dizziness or fainting caused by the pooling of venous blood at the extremities
  • reduce the level of adrenaline in the blood
  • allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate
Author - Mark Hollands - Active Health QEII

Fluid Intake Strategies

by Clare Wood

Fluid Intake Strategies

Each day we need to replace about two liters of fluid to balance general body losses - even before sweat loss during training are taken into account. When the body heats up, production of sweat helps to reduce body temperature. Sweat rates vary between individuals, and increase with harder works loads and hotter environments.

Think of your body as a car with a radiator, if you don't keep the radiator full your car over heats and will break down or run poorly. Same goes for your body, if you don't stay well hydrated.

There is a gradual reduction in performance, physical and mental, as the degree of dehydration increases.

Fluid needs are important to your competition strategies, so start developing good drinking habits in advance. Look forward to better training when you are better hydrated. Good luck - or even thirst - are not the basis of a good hydration plan, be organized with drinking plenty of fluid over the day.

Strategies to replace fluids over the day

Make sure that you drink at each meal. Don't overlook water as a great choice.

Take extra care in hot, humid weather, you will need to increase your drinking opportunities.

Keep a supply of fluids on hand during the day. Carry your own water bottle so you can get a drink wherever you are.

Rehydrate quickly after a session. Remember that you will continue to lose fluid during recovery through urine and continued sweating. You need to drink 1.5 times the amount lost over the next 1-2 hours to achieve good hydration (E.g. If you are 1 kg lighter after a session, you will need to drink 1500ml to rehydrate).

Get a feel for sweat losses during your activity, and how well you replace these. If you weigh yourself before and after a session, you are measuring fluid losses only.

Every 1 kg of weight lost = 1 litre of fluid.

Try to keep fluid loss to a minimum over a session by drinking as often as practical.

During the game

Most important during the event is fluid intake. Hopefully you have stayed well hydrated during the day with plenty of fluid intake, to take some pressure off drinking huge volumes during a competition. There is a gradual reduction in performance as the degree of dehydration increases.

Tips to remember:

  • Try to consume water at every opportunity possible and practical, i.e. when there are breaks in a game.
  • Have your own water bottle and monitor how much you drink.
  • Drink to your comfort level, you can experience stomach upsets if you consume too much.
  • In events longer than 1 hour there may be benefits to consuming some carbohydrates with your drink, such as a sports drink.
  • Keeping fluids cool may encourage greater consumption.

Article sourced from – www.topendsports.com