Maximize your workout session by warming up and cooling down
You remember, when you were little and your sports teacher used to make you do a warm-up and cool down during exercise mode. There’s a reason why he/ she used to do that. It is done to warm up your muscles and make them flexible. This makes you feel energetic and ready to pounce into heavy-duty exercises.
You can start with brisk walking, jogging, bike riding, or basic calisthenics. Go slow and build momentum. Just a few minutes (5-10 minutes) are enough. After your warm-up session, if you do weight lifting, start with low weights first. This is to warm up your muscles. This ensures a low strain on your tendons or muscle group. Your muscles are then limber enough to do all the heavy-duty lifting you crave for.
Don’t forget to breathe in between your exercise routine. It might sound funny but people forget to breathe while doing hard physical exercises. The blood pressure increases if you hold your breath which in turn puts stress on your heart and blood vessels.
The right way to breathe in between exercise sessions is by making it intentional. Breathe in through your nose, taking a long, deep breath. Then exhale through your mouth. Never do the opposite. Breathing in through the mouth can bring you into a hyperventilating state. Also, breathe in and out slowly and too fast.
The ideal way to follow right breathing during exercising is by inhaling on the “lift” of an exercise, and exhaling when you are ‘releasing’ the exercise. If you are too tired or exert due to an intense exercise or weight lift, go to the step exercises or jogging boards that are present in the gyms commonly.
This will help you keep your heart rate up during your workout. While your muscles rest a little, this ensures your heart rate is at an optimum level. After all, what’s the point of losing your exertion benefits between stations at the gym. We don’t want to defeat the purpose, right!
Go for light aerobic exercise for 4-5 minutes after you’ve completed your strength-training workout. This helps your body to relax and allows you to chill for a bit. You have done your share of hard work and we know that!
You can stretch lightly or maybe even walk around. Your flexibility of arms and legs has improved a great bit by now. You will love your flexibility a lot. Enjoy while it lasts! Never do exercise or weight training all days a week.
You strain your muscles while exercising and weight lifting and if you don’t give your muscles a little time to relax, you won’t get desired results. Only by giving your muscles some time to repair can you get stronger.
If you desire larger muscles by weight lifting, repair time is a must. Maximize your workout session by giving a days’ time in between two workout sessions. You can opt for some walking or aerobics instead on those days.
