Warming up and cooling down
I can explain the phases of a warm up and a cool down and the benefits for completing both.
Warming up and cooling down
I can explain the phases of a warm up and a cool down and the benefits for completing both.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A warm up should include gradual pulse raising activities, stretching, skill-based practices and mental preparation.
- Warming up raises body temperature, increasing range of movement and pliability of muscles to reduce risk of injury.
- Warm ups should include psychological preparation for the session or competition.
- A cool down should involve maintaining elevated breathing and heart rate and incorporating stretching exercises.
- Cooling down aids the body's recovery, facilitating the removal of waste products and helping to prevent DOMS.
Keywords
Warm up - preparation before exercise that raises heart rate, increases body temperature, and enhances flexibility
Cool down - gradual reduction of exercise intensity post-exercise to aid recovery and prevent muscle soreness
Pulse raiser - activities in a warm up that elevate heart rate and increase blood flow to muscles
Stretching - exercises to increase the range of movement at joints
Mental preparation - techniques to focus and prepare mentally for exercise, enhancing performance and reducing anxiety
Common misconception
Stretching is the first part of a warm up routine.
Before a muscle can be stretched it needs to have an increase in temperature and pliability. Therefore, before stretching, an individual should do a pulse raiser to increase blood flow to the muscles.
To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Warming up and cooling down, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Warming up and cooling down, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 physical education lessons from the Physical training: injury and injury prevention unit, dive into the full secondary physical education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Space and equipment to complete a full warm up and cool down routine.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
increases the range of movement at a joint
help with stability at the ankle joint
allow for sufficient time to recover between sessions
knees bent and straight back when lifting from the floor
Exit quiz
6 Questions
pulse raiser
dynamic stretching
activity familiarisation
mental preparation