Warm-up,
Cool down
and Flexibility
Training with
MCA
At the end of the lesson, the
students would be able to:
1. Distinguish appropriate exercises for warm-
up, work-out, cool-down and flexibility
training
2. Perform warm-up, cool-down and flexibility
training exercises properly
3. Appreciate the importance of warm-up and
cool-down exercises.
Warm-up
• preparatory exercises performed prior to
more vigorous activities.
• increase body temperature, which is
comparable to an engine heating up
gradually in order to perform more
efficiently.
• Current research and practice recommend
that warm-up exercises should be dynamic.
• Dynamic means actively warming up the
body by moving in a variety of directions at
different rates (or speed).
• Promotes blood flow
• Enhances joint ROM
• Enhances muscle flexibility that optimally cushion
the joints and muscles for the ensuing activity.
THREE TYPES OF WARM-UP
1. Passive – involves external means such as
immersing in a hot tub (not usually
employed in exercise or training)
2. General – involves exercise such brisk walk,
light jog, or riding a stationary bike until one
breaks into a light sweat.
• Movement preparation (movement prep)
preparing the body gradually by incorporating
fundamental movement skills, which are more
dynamic.
Examples:
• Squats • agility or ladder
• Planks drills.
• Lunges • hip bridges
• Y-T-W • spiderman stretch
3. Specific - involves exercises or
movements which mimic those that will
be included in the more intense activity
that is to follow.
light shooting and lay-up in
basketball; practice serves and
underhand passes in volleyball; ball
passes in football; and light rallies in
racket sports.
• Whatever type of warm-up is selected, the
overall purpose of warm-up remains the
same - to prepare the body for the greater
demands of the upcoming activity. Warm-up
is suggested to last up to 10 minutes at a
low-to-moderate intensity.
The benefits and effects of
warm-up include:
• Increased heart and respiratory rates
resulting in better blood circulation
• Increase in muscle temperature causing more
forceful contractions and quicker relaxations
• Increase in blood temperature thereby
facilitating the unloading of more oxygen to
the working muscles
• Increased joint mobility
• Increase in mental readiness
Cooldown
• Cooldown helps in returning the blood to the
heart for re-oxygenation, thus preventing a
pooling of the blood in the muscles of the
arms and legs. Such period last about 5-10
minutes
Flexibility Training
• It is important to note that dynamic warm-up
is not the same as flexibility (e.g., static
stretching) training.
• Flexibility involves the bilateral or unilateral
action (i.e., contraction, lengthening) of
opposing muscle groups to produce joint
movement.
• Static stretching - muscles or groups of
muscles are not moving around at all but are
simply elongated. These stretches help in
recovery or gradually bringing the body back
to the resting state.
• Dynamic Stretching is the opposite
• Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation or
PNF (Herman Kabat, 1940s) is another form
of stretching that combines static stretch
and isometric stretching for the purpose of
enhancing flexibility.
• PNF has been proven to enhance active
and passive range of motion (ROM). One
of the techniques involve holding a
stretched position for a few seconds, then
pushing gently against the stretched
position (isometric hold) without moving,
followed by relaxing the stretch (hold-relax
technique or Contract-relax stretch).
• Example:
In a hamstring stretch, your partner
provides resistance as you contract the muscle
and push your leg down the floor.
Additional Techniques Dynamic
Warm-up Exercises and for Flexibility:
THORACIC EXTENSION MOBILITY FOAM ROLLING ABDUCTORS
FOAM ROLLING GLUTES FOAM ROLLING IT BANDS
FOAM ROLLING THORACIC EXTENSION
