The Warm Up!
This is to increase your heart rate, get your muscles warmed up and ready to work!Is there a right way!
There is no ‘absolutely right way’ to warm up. The purpose is prevent injuries, loosen up the muscles and get blood flowing. Some low intensity aerobic movements and easy stretching is good. You never see you dog or cat jump out of bed in the morning and race off, they always stretch out. I have had periods where I did a long warm up and others where I just started slowly and that was good too!
The Work Out
You must have purpose. You are not working out just to work out.What is the Focus of Each Workout?
You need to have a clear purpose. Is it oriented to aerobics, building strength, flexibility, agility, balance. As we age we have less energy to spend doing the day and we need to get the best return on our energy investment.
The Cool Down
...is to gradually slow your heart rate. Don't just stop abruptly. Stretch each muscle and feel them relax. This takes some time to learn.Knowing How to Workout Means Knowing Each Part
When you are cooling down you should concentrate on feeling your muscles. Think about each muscle group you worked on and how they feel. Did you lengthen them, do they feel relaxed or tight? What might you do different next time? This is also a good time to look at muscle chart to learn something about your body.
As you get better at a particular routine your body will adjust as well. The same routine gets easier and easier as your muscles adapt. This is called the ‘training effect’, when your body changes according to the load you place on it. You need to progress or you will become bored…known as reaching a ‘plateau’. To avoid this, you should develop several workout routines or work out plans with different levels of intensity.
If you are just learning how to workout, go slowly. Your body is an amazing thing; it will tell you when to stop and you need to listen to it. If you work your muscles too much they will get sore. An old gym expression is “no pain – no gain”. But today we know that is just ‘insane’. If someone says this to you, just ignore them! They have no real knowledge to offer you.
