Warm Ups and Cool Downs

What does a proper warm up or cool down look like?

Interestingly there is very little evidence to support that stretching before exercise will reduce your risk of injury. So what should you do before a workout? The key is warming up your body internally with motion, and then sport specific movements to neurologically prepare the body for performance. Even if your risk of injury isn’t technically lower (because choosing to participate at all technically introduces risk), you will at least perform your best and hopefully maintain good form and quality of motion will at least help!

What about afterwards? That pain you feel after exercise isn’t lactic acid. That stuff is poison for your body. It gets metabolized right away. That pain is the oxidative damage to your cells made worse by not slowly winding down the activity to more smoothly process all that poison. It doesn’t take much. Even a few minutes of light jogging, swimming, or cycling immediately after your routine can help tremendously with this discomfort. Right after this cool down is a fantastic time for some Myofascial Stretching!