Importance of Cooling Down
Do you take the time to cool down after you workout? It’s highly recommended that you spend at least 5-10 minutes cooling down after high intensity or resistance physical training.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of adding a cool down in your fitness routine:
Reduces muscles soreness - HIIT or Anaerobic exercise results in lactic acid accumulation in the bloodstream and muscles, which creates sore muscles while a cool down helps remove that lactic acid to prevent DOMS (delayed onset muscles soreness).
Gradually lowers your heart rate and returns blood to the heart - Exercise requires many pints of blood to be distributed to the extremities because of the change in blood flow pattern. Blood is redirected during exercise away from areas where it is not essential to those areas that are active. Only 15-20% output goes to muscle while during exhaustive exercise, the muscle receives 80-85%. Spending time to cool down instead of dropping to the floor helps the blood return to the heart without feeling nauseous or light headed.
Decreases chance of injury - It’s just as important to spend the time to cool down to prevent injury as it is to warm up! Think about your body like a car, you wouldn’t go as fast as you can to just slam on the breaks, shake everything up and create more pain and stiffness for the next day! Take the time to release the energy from your muscles and bring yourself back to a rest and repair state.
Helps relieve stress - Your body release all sorts of chemicals and hormones that make you feel good when you work out, like endorphins, dopamine and serotonin! This process continues as you cool down, relieving stress and improving your mood!
Overall, cooling down gives your heart the help it needs to go from exercise mode to returning to its normal resting rate. To get the best out of your cool down, make sure you include exercises specific to the preceding training session.
Not sure where to start?
Contact me and I’ll get you set up with the proper cool down to improve your recovery and keep you injury free!