How important is warming up/cooling down?

GaijinAdrian
GaijinAdrian Posts: 47 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Whenever I run, I usually walk for about ten minutes, then some button kicks and skips and toy soldier for a total of 20 minutes;as for my cool down I walk 10 minutes and do some stretching. I came across an article online that says it's not so important since there's no actual research that proves you have to warm up/cool down. I'm confused now.

Replies

  • Soundwave79
    Soundwave79 Posts: 469 Member
    I don't really care what an article says. I know what my body says. And it says a warm up and cool down is needed. For warm up I just use dynamic stretches to get the blood flowing and I do deep static stretching immediately after my workout and usually again later in the day.
  • cgvoabc
    cgvoabc Posts: 18 Member
    edited August 2015
    I don't warm up/cool down or stretch when I run. When I first started running I did what you did but noticed that when I'd stretch/warm up I felt I wasn't running efficiently, it felt like I was running in sand. I tried running without warming up or stretching and my running felt much better so I haven't done it since. I've had some professionals say that my natural flexibility is a reason why I can do without a pre-run stretch so you're experience may be different.
  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 792 Member
    I don't usually run but we do warm ups for my mma class that doubles as conditioning the closest thing to a cool down we get is grappling and sparring tho some of us stretch afterwards for cool down and head kick potential.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,026 Member
    Warming up before intense exercise: important

    Cooling down after exercise: not so much

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  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    Warming up gets the joints moving loosely.

    I MUST warm up before lifting. If I don't, I won't even make the 1st rep. My first squat with just the bar is typically tough (as sad as that is), so I couldn't imagine going straight into +200lb. Warm ups take a few minutes, but are essential.

    For running (ultimate), I get a few minutes of walking first (from my desk to the locker to get changed, back to the car, from the car to the field), throw the disc around with some light movement and when we do start running I start slow. So, I get the blood moving, but I don't have a 20 minute warm up routine. If I went from my desk to running I would probably feel like crap.

    Cool down for me is the often walking pace I take while playing ultimate (I'm not a good runner), so not really needed.

    I always stretch after a workout. I think it helps me reduce muscle pain. I'm also trying to increase flexibility, so there is that too.
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