Warming up to You...

     Good evening, FAM...  How is that NO ADDED SUGAR thing going for you?  For those of you new to this blog, I was challenging folks to avoid adding extra sugar to their diets for the Month of September.  If you are not sure what I mean, just check back to the post titled, "How Sweet It Is" for some insight.  I have been doing really well with that.  I have been checking my labels and making sure that I am not using products that contain too many extra added sugars.

     So, today let's talk about warming up before exercise and cooling down after an exercise session.  Warming up is required to get those muscles we are about to use prepared by pumping the blood to the right places.  Warming up helps to insure that you will not injure yourself by causing stress to body parts that are COLD.   According to About.comSports Medicine, a warm muscle contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly allowing for speed and strength to be enhanced and makes for better range of motion around the appropriate joints.  Warming up helps increase your heart rate for extra activity and primes your nerve-to-muscle pathways to be ready for exercises. 
     Now you really should be focusing on the muscles you are about to use.  So, if you are about to do a walk or run, you would want to start with a slow walk prior to getting up to full speed.  If you are going to do some strength training, make sure you physicially go through the motions that you will use during that activity.  If you are about play some volleyball, go through some volleyball type skills and movements prior to getting into that match.  Hey, the fact is, pretty much any physical activity you want to do requires warming up, from aerobic exercising to 
S-E-X...  Are you with me on that?

     Is it really necessary to cool down after exercise?  Most experts would say, YES.  Why?  The cool down will allow your body and heart to go from being hot, revved, and ramped to a resting state.  According to the exercises you have been participating in, this cool down could be a walk or slow run or involve stretching.
     In my mind the cool down is really more for your heart.  Just think.  When you are at your full exercise capacity, running, jumping, doing zumba, whatever, your blood vessels in your muscles dilate so more blood can flow through the muscles you are exercising.  That in turn, will cause more blood to be pumped to and from the heart.  IF you suddenly stop the exercise, there is a possibility that the blood will pool in those dilated vessels and that will cause the heart to have to work harder to maintain blood pressure.  If you have a cool down period, this will allow the vessels to "gradually" return to their normal state, and will in turn allow the heart rate to slow down to its normal "resting" rate.

     So at the end of the day, the warm-up gets you ready for the exercise at hand and the cool down allows you to go back to your relaxed mode.  Both warming up and cooling down will allow your body to adjust gradually without any major shock to your system.   The only thing missing is a nice total body massage after that cool down.  Are you with me on that?  SMOOCHES...
(special thanks to Mayo.clinic.com, spark people, about.com sports medicine)