Warming up, cooling down and safe practice
The few minutes either side of the main activity are not wasted time — a proper warm-up and cool-down make performance better and injury far less likely.
Part of your national curriculum
- Health and fitness: Understand warming up, cooling down and safe practice when taking part in physical activity
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand warming up, cooling down and safe practice when taking part in physical activity
Key learning points
- • Why warm up?
- • Why cool down?
- • Safe practice
This lesson at a glance
- 20 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Warming up, cooling down and safe practice
An English teaching video on this topic from British Heart Foundation. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Understand warming up, cooling down and safe practice when taking part in physical activity
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Why warm up?
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
Why warm up?
A warm-up gradually raises heart rate, body temperature and blood flow to muscles, making them more flexible and responsive before intense activity. A typical warm-up progresses from light general movement (like jogging) to dynamic stretches and sport-specific drills, such as short sprints before a football match.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Why cool down?
Cooling down with light activity and static stretching after exercise helps gradually lower heart rate and may reduce muscle stiffness, rather than stopping suddenly which can cause blood to pool and lead to dizziness. Static stretches (held still) are recommended after exercise, whereas dynamic stretches (moving) are better before exercise when muscles are still cold.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
What type of stretching is recommended before exercise, when muscles are still cold?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
Why might stopping intense exercise suddenly be a problem?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Safe practice
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Safe practice
Safe practice includes wearing appropriate footwear and protective equipment, checking the playing surface and equipment for hazards, staying hydrated, and following the specific rules of the activity. Recognising your own limits and reporting pain or injury immediately, rather than pushing through it, prevents small problems becoming serious ones.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
Which of these is an example of safe practice?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
____ down with light activity and static stretching after exercise helps gradually lower heart rate and may reduce muscle stiffness, rather than stopping suddenly which can cause blood to pool and lead to dizziness.
Safe ____ includes wearing appropriate footwear and protective equipment, checking the playing surface and equipment for hazards, staying hydrated, and following the specific rules of the activity.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Warming up, cooling down and safe practice
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What type of stretching is recommended before exercise, when muscles are still cold?
2. Why might stopping intense exercise suddenly be a problem?
3. Which of these is an example of safe practice?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
What a warm-up is actually for
A warm-up raises the heart rate, sends more blood to the working muscles and raises muscle temperature by a couple of degrees. Warm muscle stretches further before it tears, and messages between brain and muscle travel faster, so movement is more accurate.
A good warm-up has three parts: a few minutes of easy movement, mobility that takes joints through the range the sport needs, and short bursts at close to game speed.
Long, still stretching before explosive sport can slow the muscle down. Save that kind of stretching for the cool-down.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Explain in your own words two things a warm-up does to the body.
- Design a ten-minute warm-up for one sport, with times for each part.
- Keep a training log for three sessions: what you did, how long, and how you felt after.
Training log
WritingWrite what you did, for how long, and how your body felt afterwards.
Half a page
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Understand warming up, cooling down and safe practice when taking part in physical activity