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There are three components that form the foundation for bodybuilding or any fitness activity and should be included in your program:
- warming up,
- stretching and
- cooling down.
Doing a warm-up is how a bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast should start their training. It is also recommended to do adequate warming up for each body part that is to be exercised.
One key reason why you should always do proper warm-ups before you train is to prevent injury.
This is just one of the benefits of doing a warm up.
Joints and muscles that haven’t been properly lubricated with synovial fluid and stretched are possibly going to be subject to injury. You do not want to be injured especially you are just starting out on your fitness journey.
There are other reasons why warming up is important. Apart from raising your heart rate and the temperature of your muscles, your mind is also being prepared for strenous physical activity.
If there is a way up, there is always a way down.
The same thing can be applied to bodybuilding and fitness training.
Warming up prior to any strenuous activities is done to prevent the body from any type of injury.
Whereas cooling down exercises are light stretching exercises that are done to properly cool down the body.
Though this may be the last stage to completing a bodybuilding training, it is just as important as the warming up, the stretching, and the training regimen.
The reason? You really don’t want to wake up the next morning with sore muscles and aching body, do you?
Well, strictly speaking, the soreness that results after heavy physical activity is minimized by doing some cooling down exercises.
You do not do cooling down to prevent muscle soreness which is the result of microtrauma in the muscles and lactic acid build up.
Not only that, an abrupt halt from heavy exercises deprives the body from going back to its normal heart rate, pulse and body temperature. This makes it difficult for the muscles to adjust and relax as well and results to the tightening of muscles.
Apply light stretching exercises to your hamstrings, biceps and quadriceps. You might also engage in light aerobic activity as part of this cooling down process.
Sources:
Lund H, Vestergaard-Poulsen P, Kanstrup IL, Sejrsen P. The effect of passive stretching on delayed onset muscle soreness, and other detrimental effects following eccentric exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1998 Aug;8(4):216-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1998.tb00195.x. PMID: 9764443.
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