Thursday, November 22, 2012

How to Warm Up and Cool Down During the Personal Training Session

A warm up

Our general tendency is to attach greater importance to the core part of personal training and ignore the most vital element of conditioning our body, just before starting and finishing any fitness regime.

Most of us tend to overlook the need for conditioning our bodies to meet the tough requirements of any exercise plan. A warm up is the most essential part of any workout program or personal training.

The core part of any personal training is to equip the muscle tissue and the joints for a workout session. This is essential for preventing any kind of injury to the body and enhancing the effectiveness of a workout program to see some amazing results.

Here are the top 5 reasons for having a good warm up routine as part of your personal training session:

-Ability to improve your heart rate and breathing pattern as much as your workout rate.

-Enhances blood flow to the muscle and boosts oxygen and blood flow required during a workout.

-Increases body temperature and enhances flexibility of the muscles.

-Helps in lubricating the joints to give maximum flexibility at the time of a workout session.

-Equips you mentally to meet the tough challenges of a strenuous fitness program.

At the time of warming up, it is necessary to ascertain that all the major muscle groups and joints used in the workout are triggered. There are different ways of doing a warm up such as walking and jogging activities for conditioning your body. You can always begin the main workout by exercising at a slower pace and by including low resistance level to boost the warm up process.

As part of an effective warm up routine, it is important to include light stretching of all the major muscle groups that may be used in the majority part of the training session. Stretches can be divided into two main categories that include dynamic and static stretching. It is very easy to integrate dynamic stretches into a warm up routine as they involve cyclic movements of the specific muscle groups. On the other hand, static stretching must be done only after finishing a warm up routine. In fact, stretching before a workout can lead to muscle tissue tear causing injuries and even prevent you from doing exercises for a short period of time.

The time taken to do a warm up routine may vary from each individual depending on their individual needs and the intensity of the personal training session. Generally, a warm up routine may take anywhere ranging between 5 to 20 minutes but for professional athletes, it may take longer to warm up their bodies.

Whenever you plan to begin your outdoor or gym workout session, get ready to move your heart rate up and keep your muscles and joints flexible to kick start your personal training workout.

A cool down

Usually, for most of the people, the normal routine after completing their fitness session is to take a shower or casually relax. However, it is important to remember that a cool down session is equally important for the body to get well settled after a personal training session. Here are the three main reasons for why we need a cool down routine after a good exercise routine:

-Helps in slowly bringing the heart and breathing rate to a normal level.

-Cuts down risk of dizziness.

-Decreases muscle soreness and brings down effects of fatigue.

It is very common to have a higher heart rate especially after a rigorous personal training session, sometimes as high as 80% of the maximum heart rate. Hence, it becomes important to bring your body back to the normal resting heart rate to minimize the risks associated with getting blackouts or experiencing light-headedness.

A cool down routine can assist in reducing muscle soreness after completing a fitness program and ascertain that the main muscle groups involved in the exercise get a solid workout. It also ensures good stretching of these muscles to enhance their range of motion due to the result of a strenuous physical activity.

Thus, a cool down routine can be divided into the 3 major categories:

-Subtle exercise targeted specifically to bring down the heart and breathing rate.

-Overall stretching of all the major muscle groups included in the exercise plan.

-Replenishing the body and improving energy levels.

You can do light exercises at a slow pace and get along with your exercise plan and both walking and jogging can be effective in cooling down your body. During this time, both the heart rate and the breathing pattern returns back to a regular state and the risk of dizziness is also reduced to a great extent.

The stretching of major muscle groups can be used to enhance their range of motion after a workout program. Ideally, stretching must be done when the body is still warm and every stretching position can take roughly about 20 seconds to finish and reach the maximum potential. However, the stretching exercises can be continued and repeated to reduce the soreness in the areas of large muscle groups, where it may be still present.

The final step of a cool down women's jackets online process involves rehydrating and boosting energy levels in the body. In the process of the workout session, your body utilizes large amounts of essential nutrients and fluids. Hence, it is vital to replenish your body by having a healthy diet and resume normal functioning of the body after completing a workout.

A cool down routine followed after personal training session can assist your body in functioning to the optimum level during the daytime and keeps you ready for the next workout session as well.

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