It can be easy to think that warming up and down is a waste of time but it can make a big difference to your recovery.

Years ago we were only told to warm up and more recently has the importance of warming down been recognised. The reasons for doing these exercises are to avoiding straining your muscles. It may not feel that you will be or have worked them that hard, but any exercise will work your muscles and they need to be stretched out to loosen them up before you start. This will make the actual exercise feel like less of an effort, especially to start with, which is always a good thing.

When you have finished exercising your muscles will go stiff if you do not stretch them out. It is a good idea to also slow down the intensity that you are working them as your workout draws to a close.

Do some gentle but intense stretches afterwards. You will also find that you may benefit form stretching them out periodically, if you feel them stiffen up. This is likely to be most noticeable the morning after or possibly a couple of days afterwards.

After long periods of sitting or after being in bed, it is likely that they may feel sore when you stand up and a few stretches should help.

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