Warming up and Cooling Down with Aerobic Exercise

When you set out on a weight loss journey, diet and exercise should always go hand in hand. After all, the calories you take in must be burned off sufficiently in order to lose weight. Additionally, when your muscles, heart and lungs work properly, all the functions of the body become more efficient, including your metabolism. The American Heart Association recommends each of us take part in thirty minutes of aerobic exercise five times per week.

Aerobic exercise increases blood flow and oxygen intake to the body. This type of exercise is usually lower in intensity and last longer in workout duration than anaerobic, or strength focused exercises. Some examples of aerobic exercise are running, brisk walking, bike riding and swimming. While working out is important, it may be just as important to warm up before exercise and cool down afterwards. This will not only work us steadily into a more productive workout, but may also help us avoid any injuries.

Warm up exercises work us slowly up to the level our workout will continue at. They allow our muscles and joints to stretch and lubricate, as well as allow our lungs to increase oxygen capacity and our heart to pump blood more efficiently. Warms ups will, in essence, allow us to work out at a higher intensity throughout the entire exercise period.

Some example of warm up exercise include slow walking for up to ten minutes prior to a brisk walk, swimming slow laps and slowly increasing lap speed over time when swimming and walking briskly for up to ten minutes prior to jogging.

Cooling down is usually part of the exercise regimen of conditioned athletes to help regulate the flow of blood following an intense workout, but may be something that others may enjoy following a workout as well. Cooling down slows the flow of blood and allows the pulse to reduce to a normal rate. For those who choose to take part in cool down exercises, it is just as easy as reversing warm ups. Following a brisk walk, slow your pace to a slow walk for up to ten minutes. Following a jog or run slow down to a brisk walk for five or ten minutes. If you have just finished laps in a pool, slow your lap time down for several laps before wrapping it up for the day.