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Warming up and cooling down before and after exercise is something many people forget about.

We know we are supposed to follow a warm-up/cool-down routine but skip it because of time constraints. However, if these two important parts of an exercise program are not done correctly, problems could arise resulting in serious setbacks.

The reason we should warm up is simple — to get our body ready for more intense exercise. Both our heart and our skeletal muscles need to be ready in order to avoid injury. The general warm-up does a great job of preparing the heart for exercise, but it does only a partial job of activating skeletal muscles because of its usual limited range of motion aspect. To combat this, I suggest doing a light warm-up set with good range of motion before diving into strength training. This way, the muscles used will become accustomed to the range of motion while not working too hard at first.

WARM-UP ADVICE
Warming up usually takes a bit longer than cooling down. It really depends on how intense the activity is that you are preparing for. Normally, the more intense the exercise, the longer the warm-up should be. When participating in athletics, the warm-up should be extended. I remember back when I was a track athlete, it would take us a good 15 minutes to warm up properly. The warm-up was almost as hard as the workout itself. Unlike an athletic workout, a moderate exercise program includes an 8-to-10-minute warm-up.

There are many different ways to do a warm-up. A general warm-up for moderate exercise usually involves getting on a piece of cardio equipment, such as a treadmill or bike, and gradually increasing the intensity level of the machine. As mentioned, this should take about 8 to 10 minutes, and you should be breathing heavier by the end of 8 minutes.

For intense activities, a dynamic or specific warm-up is more appropriate. Sports such as soccer, track and field, and basketball can all have warm-ups that specifically activate certain muscle groups used during the sport. Lunges, shuffles, runs and various mobility exercises can be used.

BLOOD RETURN
The cool-down is the final thing you need to do when exercising and involves lowering your heart rate back down to near resting levels by going slower or lighter. This period should last at least a minute or two and can be as long as 10 minutes after intense activity. Like the warm-up, the harder the workout, the longer the cool-down. This part of the routine is rarely as complicated as the warm-up, but it's just as important. Without a proper cool-down, we may feel dizzy or light-headed afterwards and could unknowingly put extra stress on the heart.

During exercise, the heart provides blood for the muscles that are working, and once the program is complete, the cool-down brings that blood back to the heart so there is no pooling.

The body is actually more efficient at doing this when moving because the contractions of the muscles will push blood back to the heart. If you stop exercising suddenly, your muscles can't help with blood return, and your heart actually has to speed up and work harder in order to keep things working properly. This is what sometimes causes the light-headedness when we neglect to follow through with a cool-down. Also, a lack of blood return means waste products produced by the muscles will not be removed effectively. This in turn could make it more difficult to recover from exercise.

Ted Santaniello, CSCS, AFAA, is a certified personal trainer working at the Wellness Center at PARC, located at 295 New York Road (next to ARC) in Plattsburgh. For more information, call him at 324-2024.