Warming Up & Cooling Down Make for a Better Workout
Training tips from Rusty Smith
originally published on usolympicteam.com
- Tip #1 - Prepare your body to work hard, regularly!
In a normal day I stretch five or six different times because of this I am able to be more flexible and train harder day in and day out without getting hurt. Warming up gets your muscle ready to work and it helps prevent injuries. Warming down on the other hand helps you maintain flexibility and keeps you from getting sore for your next workout
- Tip #2 - Start early and easy
In short track speed skating my workout schedule can get hectic. I start the day early and very quick. I usually wake up around 6:30 in the morning and go straight to the ice rink. By 7 a.m. I am starting my warm up. My warm up consists of about ten minutes of jogging, then I go into my calisthenics part of the warm up. In this part I do 10 different drills to get me ready for that day’s workout. These drills change depending on the type of workout.
- Tip #3 - Stretch it out, then pump it up
When I get finished with that I sit down for 15 to 20 minutes of stretching, making sure that I get all of my major muscle groups and all of my joints loosened up so there is nothing tight on my body. I like to hold each stretch for about 15 seconds to get the full stretch out of my muscles. When I get finished stretching I finish my warm up with two or three sprints just to get the fast twitch fibers motivated and ready for the work out.
- Tip #4 - Cool down, loosen the lactate
When my workout is over I go outside and go for a nice and easy run for a good 10 to 15 minutes to make sure that I loosen up all of the lactate that I built up. When the jogging is finished I sit down and relax and do some slow, smooth stretches to try to get my legs loose again. I have to make sure that I feel good after this because depending on the day, I could have to do up to two more workouts.
- Tip #5 - Get ready for your next workout right now
The main reason for stretching so much is to get ready for your work out and by doing this, it will make your workout a better quality workout than if you just jumped right into the workout. Warming down has helped me a lot in my sport. I have learned that when I warm down I feel a lot better going into my next workout and my warm up for that workout becomes a lot easier.
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