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Warming
Up and Cooling Down
A warm-up
ride on your Lifecycle~
gradually
increases
your pulse rate and your
recommended
THRR. This promotes
blood flow to working
muscles
and meets
the body's increased
demand
for oxygen.
The length of the warm-up
period of
the standard
Hill Profile program
will vary depending
upon the duration
of the ride
you selected.
The warm-up
period is 21/2 minutes if you select a 12 minute ride;
11/4 minutes in a 6 minute ride; 31/2 minutes in an 18 minute ride; and 41/2
minutes in a 24 minute ride.
The cool-<iown
period, which lasts 1 1/2 minutes in a 6 minute ride; 3 minutes in a
12 minute ride; 41/2 minutes in an 18 minute ride; 6 minutes in a 24 ride,
decreases
the activity level of your heart until it has returned to 55% of its
theoretical
maximum
rate. A proper cool-<iown
period assures sufficient
blood
flow to the muscles which helps remove the end products
of exercise,
including
lactic acid. Accumulation
of these end products
is a major cause of muscle
soreness.
The harder the workout,
the longer the cool-<iown
should be.
Research
suggests
that in order to minimize
the chance of injury, stretching
exercises
should be performed
after the cool-<iown
period, whne muscles and
joints are still warm. This is especially
true if you follow your aerobic workout
with
a weight training
session.
Proper stretching
techniques
are illustrated
on pages
17 and 18.
The Hill Profile program
includes
built-in warm-up
and cool-<iown
periods.
The
Random and Manual programs do not.
.
When using the Random and Manual
programs,
you should gradually
increase the workload
at the beginning
of the
ride and then decrease
you effort during the final minutes of the ride in order to
provide effective warm-up
and cool-<iown
periods.
Proper
Stretching Techniques
Stretching is perhaps the most neglected element
of physical
conditioning,
because
people
do not associate flexibilitywith the more glamorous aspects
-
speed, strength and a lean body appearance.
However,
without
significant
flexibility, real gains in fitness are unnecessarny
difficult to achieve and maintain.
Flexibility
as a
Fitness
Safety
Umberjoints,
muscles and connective
tissue provides
the
freedom of motion that makes exercise
easier and more
enjoyable
to perform and lessens the risk of injury.
Without
proper, consistent stretching, ligaments and tendons can
become taut and shortened, with decreased
circulation.
These
inflexible tissues are more prone to chronic soreness
or rupture
than loose, stretch-conditioned
tissues.
And,
nothing
is more
discouraging
than nagging injuries. Stretching helps people of all ages and levels
of
fitness
to prepare
themselves
for the exertion required to participate
in a
program
of regular muscular
and aerobic training.
See page 17 for
illustrations
of recommended stretching exercises.
16
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