Warm – Up / Cool Down
Learning Objective
To understand the physiological and psychological
benefits of a warm-up & cool down.
Effective warm-up should include:

General warm-up (pulse raiser)

Stretching

Specific warm up (practice of skills involved)

Psychological preparation (focusing, anxiety
control)
Benefits of warm-up:
Physiological Benefits:
 Better oxygen delivery to muscle tissues
 Improved muscle blood flow
 Increased speed of nerve conduction
 Reduction in likelihood of muscular injury
 Increased heart rate.
Psychological Benefits
 Control anxiety.
 Focus mind.
 Practice skills involved.
Stretching Safely
Important points to consider when stretching
during a warm-up:
 Warm-up / pulse raiser prior to stretching,
 Make stretches sports specific,
 (begin) slowly,
 Stretches held for too long or not long enough
could cause injury,
 Never hold a stretch which causes pain,
 No bouncing / ballistic movements,
 Balance / equalise stretches of the agonist and
antagonist muscles.
Stretching
Must occur after the general warm-up.
 Must be specific to the activity.
 Stretching improves flexibility, increases relaxation
of muscles and improves muscles ability to
withstand the forces involved in exercise.

Stretching can be either static (no movement) or
dynamic (with movement). There are 4 types of
stretching you need to know about:
Types of Stretching
Active stretching – holding a stretched position by contraction of
your own agonist muscles.
 Increases active flexibility and strengthens agonist muscles. Difficult
to hold for over 10s.
Yoga based active stretching
Passive stretching – a stretch position being held by something
other than the agonist muscles.
 Good for cooling down and reducing post-exercise muscle
soreness.
Static stretching – stretch to the limit and then
isometrically contract stretched muscles.
 Much more effective than the previous two for
strength and flexibility.
 E.g. partner holds leg high while you try to push
down or ‘push the wall’ calf stretch.
PNF stretching
Ballistic stretching – using movement to ‘bounce’ in
and out of a stretched position. Can cause injury.
 Considered dangerous. Doesn’t allow muscles to
adjust to stretched position. Can cause muscles to
tighten due to ‘stretch reflex.’
Ballistic hamstring tear
Benefits of improved flexibility
Definition: the range of movement around a
joint.
 Increased range of movement,
 Decreased chance of injury,
 Ability to hold aesthetically pleasing
gymnastic positions,
 Greater reach (e.g. tennis, basketball)
 Can apply more power / longer levers in
athletic activities.
Benefits of a Cool-Down
Aids removal of waste products (lactic acid).
Reduce potential for delayed onset of
muscle soreness (DOMS).
 Reduce chances of dizziness or fainting
caused by pooling of blood at extremities.
 Reduce level of adrenaline in blood.
 Allow HR to gradually return to normal
rate.


Should include 5-10mins walk/jog and 510mins static stretching.