What does a warm-up consist of and how long should your warm up be?

Cooling downThis is also often overlooked in favour of a drink in the bar but can help avoid injuries and boost performance. The aim of the cool down is to:

• Gradually lower heart rate.
• Circulate blood and oxygen to muscles, restoring them to the condition they were in before exercise.
• Reduce the risk of blood pooling by maintaining muscle action and heart rate to pump blood back to the heart.
• Remove waste products such as lactic acid.
• Reduce the risk of muscle soreness.

The cool down should consist of a gentle jog, decreasing in speed down to a walk followed by light static stretching. Remember to stretch all muscle groups used in the sport. Upper body muscles especially are often forgotten is sports such as football, soccer and Rugby.

Sports Massage

Sports massage can be used as part of either a warm-up or a cool down. During a warm-up a short massage can help to warm and stretch the muscles and get the blood pumping, ready for exercise. It can also help to prepare you mentally.

A post-exercise massage helps to remove waste products such as lactic acid which build up during exercise, and prevent blood pooling. It will aso help stretch the muscles and return them to their pre-exercise state!