Making the Most of your Workout
To make the most of your workouts, remember to slow down. 1. Your workout sessions should always start with a warm up. If you are going to run outside, start with a brisk walk or light jog to get the joints lubricated and the muscles warmed up. If you use a fitness center, try a variety of cardiovascular machines all in which you should start slower than your target speed. 2. When working out with any type of strength training equipment move through the proper range of motion and slow it down. Some specific exercises can be given for individuals with sports training in mind and do require more power and speed. Remember with these exercises, quality of the movement pattern comes first. If the exercise is challenging performing the action slow, don’t try to move with power until the body can perform the action properly. Quality is better than quantity! 3. Stretching is very important and can be very beneficial if done properly. Studies have shown that stretching before activity is best used for warm up purposes, but stretching after is most important for maintaining and improving the range of motion of the joints (flexibility). Stretches should be held from 10 to 30 seconds and can be repeated up to 3 times. Try not to bounce when stretching. There are lots of tools that can be used to assist a stretch. Use your sports equipment to assist the stretch before the game and at home use an old tie to assist the leg when you can’t quite reach it.