Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← PE
PEFitness and how the body responds20 min★ difficulty

Warming up, cooling down and staying safe

The boring bit at the start is the part that keeps you playing all season.

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

  • • What a warm-up does
  • • Dynamic before, static after
  • • Cooling down

This lesson at a glance

  • 20 minutes
  • 13 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

warmingcoolingpracticetakingphysical

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 13 · Discover8%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 13

Watch first

Warming up, cooling down and staying safe

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

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 13

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · What a warm-up does

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 13

Learn

What a warm-up does

Gentle activity raises heart rate and muscle temperature, so muscles stretch further before tearing and joints release fluid. Five to ten minutes is enough.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 13

Learn

Dynamic before, static after

Before activity use movement-based stretches such as leg swings. Long held stretches are better afterwards, when muscles are warm and you are returning to rest.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 13

Quick check

Why does a warm-up reduce injury risk?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 13

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.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 13

Quick check

Which stretching suits the start of a session?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 13

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Cooling down

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 13

Learn

Cooling down

Easy movement for a few minutes clears waste products and lets heart rate fall gradually rather than suddenly, which reduces dizziness and next-day stiffness.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 13

Quick check

What does a cool-down help with?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 13

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

12

Mastery quiz

Part 12 of 13

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Warming up, cooling down and staying safe

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Why does a warm-up reduce injury risk?

  2. 2. Which stretching suits the start of a session?

  3. 3. What does a cool-down help with?

13

Lesson round-up

Part 13 of 13

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 Luna

Do 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.

Article

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

  1. Explain in your own words two things a warm-up does to the body.
  2. Design a ten-minute warm-up for one sport, with times for each part.
  3. Keep a training log for three sessions: what you did, how long, and how you felt after.

  • Training log

    Writing

    Write what you did, for how long, and how your body felt afterwards.

    Half a page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 13 · Watch & discover

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    Understand warming up, cooling down and safe practice when taking part in physical activity

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