Any kind of exercise should start with a warm-up and end with a cool down. Why is that? Because to minimize the risk of injury to muscles and joints and maximize the range of motion when you exercise. Warm up is done for about five to ten minutes by stretching the muscles before starting to exercise.
Likewise with cooling in sports which is also important to do after exercise. However, post-exercise cooling activities are often underestimated by some. Here are the benefits of you warming up before exercise and cooling down after exercise.
The Benefits of Warming Up and Cooling Down in Sports
• Cultivate a mental optimism and focus
You can believe it or not. However, warming up has a good effect on the readiness of athletes before carrying out the match. Warming up functions to control anxiety and nervousness. In addition, warming up can foster a sense of optimism and athletes focus on the competition. With reduced anxiety and increased mental focus on athletes, optimal warm-up will increase performance so that the athlete’s goal of winning the match can be carried out smoothly without the distraction of anxiety, nervousness, and worry.
• Reducing the risk of injury
The risk of injury can occur if you do sports even though your muscles are not ready. When you exercise, your muscles do strenuous activity and they get tense. If you don’t warm up, your muscles start to shock and can cause muscle cramps. In addition, you will also feel tired and dizzy easily. If an athlete experiences an injury due to a lack of warm-up, it will certainly be detrimental to himself or the club.
• Increases blood flow to muscles
Your cardiovascular system also needs to be prepared before exercising because exercise is a strenuous activity so your body needs to adapt to several changes such as breathing intensity, energy release, and to increase blood flow to muscles.
• The body becomes relaxed
After exercising, your body should be rested by cooling off. Because when you exercise you sweat a lot and use up a lot of energy so you might feel a little tired. If you cool down, you can breathe fresh air as much as possible so that the body becomes relaxed and refreshed.
• Normalizes post-exercise cardiac performance
When exercising, your muscles and heart work optimally so they must be normalized again. One of the benefits of cooling is that it normalizes the performance of the heart. If your heart is working normally again, you can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
By paying attention to the warm-up and cool-down procedures in sports, you have reduced some of the risks that can occur during exercise or after exercise. Warming up serves to prepare your body for sports that are quite exhausting, while cooling is useful to help normalize the performance of your organs that are stiff, tense and react optimally. Do not underestimate these two activities to get the maximum benefits of exercise.