Exercise warmups, cool downs have many benefits

It’s tough enough to get out there and exercise on a regular basis (should be daily), but adding a warmup and cool down, can feel like an even bigger burden. However, a proper warmup (and cool down) can do a lot of good, such as dilating your blood vessels, making sure your muscles are well supplied with much-needed oxygen.

Warming up also increases your muscles temperature which can help increase flexibility, increases calorie burn, offers better muscle control, can help prevent lactic acid build up and gets you mentally ready to start working out. Stretching improves range of motion and reduces stress on joints and tendons (which could help prevent injuries).

The cool down allows for an even transition from exercise, which reduces lightheadedness, injuries to the ligaments, joints, and muscles, and reduces the chance of heart attacks. Including a light stretch afterwards may help reduce muscle soreness. The stretching for warm-ups are different than the stretching for cool-down.

Below are a few tips how you can improve your current exercise routine.

Warmup tips

• Start your exercise slowly and increase your pace gradually. For instance, if you’re running, you would jog first.

• The more intense the activity, the longer your warm-up should be.

• After you warm up (5 to 10 minutes), you should do some light stretching.

• Do not do static (holding) stretches or bounce stretching.

• Examples of stretching that is not static include shoulder rolls, ankle rolls, arm circles, high knee marches, hip circles and squats without weights. The idea is to get your body moving before you move into full gear.

• The primary purpose of stretching is to increase range of motion — allowing your limbs and joints to move further, thereby making them more “flexible.” This occurs by increasing the length of both your muscles and tendons.

• Breathe deeply by inhaling and exhaling using your diaphragm.

• Go through the motions of any type of weight lifting without the resistance (using weights). For instance, if you’re going to do a push-up, go through the motions of reaching forward and pulling back while you’re standing.

Cool down tips

• Walk for a few minutes, slowing your heart rate (should be below 120 beats per minute).

• After cooling down, it’s a good idea to stretch (in more of a traditional sense), hold each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. Make sure you don’t bounce and that the stretch is not painful.

Charles Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of DietDetective.com, and director of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College. Copyright 2017 by Charles Platkin. Sign up for the free Diet Detective newsletter at www. DietDetective.com.