Safe warm up and cool down
It is important that you warm up before a class or playing your instrument, so that you don’t cause damage to your body.
An effective warm up should:
- prepare you mentally and physically for the task
- permit freer movement of the muscles and joints
- increase heart rate and blood circulation
- improve effective muscle actions
- reduce the risk of injury
- increase coordination and proprioception
Equally important is cooling down after class/practice.
An effective cool down should:
- gradually slow your movements to bring your breathing and heart rate down to your resting rate
- begin to cool the body temperature
- stretch the muscles to eliminate lactic acid build-up
- begin to rest the mind, increase in activity releases adrenaline and endorphins, which can lead to restlessness
Danger signals
Signs of injury include:
- pain and/or a burning sensation
- fatigue or heaviness
- weakness
- impaired dexterity
- tingling, numbness
- clumsiness
- stiffness
- involuntary movement, impaired circulation
- difficulty with normal daily activities
This can affect:
- bones
- joints
- ligaments
- tendons
- muscles
Injury is caused by many factors, such as:
- overuse
- poor posture and/or technique
- excessive force
- stress
- body size
- condition of muscles
- muscle imbalance (for example a violinist’s left arm will move up and down the fingerboard but never left and right, whereas their right arm will constantly move left to right but never up and down)