Cool Down - recover faster & avoid injury!

Many people dismiss the cool down exercises as a waste of time, or simply unimportant. In reality the cool down is just as important as the warm up, and if you want to stay injury free, it's vital.

Although the warm up and cool down are just as important as each other, they are important for different reasons. While the main purpose of warm up is to prepare the body and mind for strenuous activity, cooling down plays a different role.

Why Cool Down?

The main aim of the cool down is to promote recovery and return the body to a pre exercise, or pre work out level. During a strenuous work out your body goes through a number of stressful processes. Muscle fibers, tendons and ligaments get damaged, and waste products build up within your body.

The cool down exercises, performed properly, will assist your body in its repair process. One area the cool down will help with, is "post exercise muscle soreness." This is the soreness that is usually experienced the day after a tough work out. Most people experience this after having a lay-off from exercise, or at the beginning of their sports season. Running a half marathon with very little preparation, and finding it difficult to walk down steps the next day because of quadriceps were so sore. That discomfort is "post exercise muscle soreness."

This soreness is caused by a number of things. Firstly, during exercise, tiny tears called micro tears develop within the muscle fibers. These micro tears cause swelling of the muscle tissues which in turn puts pressure on the nerve endings and results in pain.

Secondly, when exercising, your heart is pumping large amount of blood to the working muscles. This blood is carrying both oxygen and nutrients that the working muscles need. When the blood reaches the muscles the oxygen and nutrients are used up. Then the force of the contracting (exercising) muscles pushes the blood back to the heart where it is re-oxygenated.

However, when the exercise stops, so does the force that pushes the blood back to the heart. This blood, as well as waste products like lactic acid, stays in the muscles, which in turn causes swelling and pain. This process is often referred to as "blood pooling."

So, the cool down exercises helps all this by keeping the blood circulating, which in turn helps to prevent blood pooling and also removes waste products from the muscles. This circulating blood also brings with it the oxygen and nutrients needed by the muscles, tendons and ligaments for repair.

Key parts of an effective cool down

Now we know what the cool down does and why it is so important, lets have a look at the structure of an effective cool down. Cool down has three key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete cool down. They are;

All three parts are equally important and any one part should not be neglected or thought of as not necessary. All three elements work together to repair and replenish the body after exercise.

How to Breath while exercise

Proper breathing and sufficient oxygen intake are crucial when exercising.  Most people tend to hold their breath when doing exercise. Do not hold your breathe while exercise. When exercising, the heart pumps more blood and the lungs take in more air to meet the increased oxygen demands of the muscles and to remove the extra carbon dioxide given off by the working cells.  

How to Cool down

Example 1: - How to Cool down for Professional

• 10 to 15 minutes of easy cool down exercises. Be sure that the easy exercise resembles the type of exercise that was done during your work out. For example, if your workout involved a lot of running, cool down with easy jogging or walking.
• Include some deep breathing as part of your easy exercise to help oxygenate your system.
• Follow with about 20 to 30 minutes of stretching. Static stretching and PNF stretching is usually best.
• Re-fuel. Both fluid and food are important. Drink plenty of water, plus a good quality sports drink. The best type of food to eat straight after a work out is that which is easily digestible.

Example 2: - How to Cool down for Amateur

• 3 to 5 minutes of easy cool down exercises. Be sure that the easy exercise resembles the type of exercise that was done during your work out. For example, if your workout involved a lot of running, cool down with easy jogging or walking.
• Include some deep breathing as part of your easy exercise to help oxygenate your system.
• Follow with about 5 to 10 minutes of stretching. Static stretching and PNF stretching is usually best.
• Re-fuel. Both fluid and food are important. Drink plenty of water, plus a good quality sports drink. The best type of food to eat straight after a work out is that which is easily digestible. Fruit is a good example.

Getting serious about your cool down exercise and following the above examples will make sure you recover quicker from your work outs, and stay injury free. Visit The Stretching Institute for more details on stretching, flexibility and sports injury.

For an easy-to-use, quick reference guide of every possible stretching exercise pictures, for every major muscle group in your body, get a copy of The Stretching Handbook. You'll also learn the benefits of flexibility; the rules for safe stretching; and how to stretch properly.