Finish your cool down with seated stretches to improve flexibility throughout the whole body and promote relaxation. If your workout included more strength training , your cool down might include total body stretches to increase the range of motion in the joints you just worked. You'll want to be especially careful to stretch the joints that you just worked.
So if you did biceps and triceps strengthening exercises, your cool down might include bicep and tricep stretches. It is also helpful to include relaxation exercises in your cool down. This might include a few minutes of deep breathing or a yoga-style savasana. These mind-body exercises, along with gentle movements and stretching will help you to take advantage of your cool down and keep your body healthy.
Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Do we need a cool-down after exercise? A narrative review of the psychophysiological effects and the effects on performance, injuries and the long-term adaptive response. Sports Med. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFit.
At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs. Why is it important to cool down after exercise? National Academy of Sports Medicine. Continue Learning about Flexibility Training Why should I do static stretching with muscle activation? After all, it is just the main part of the workout that counts, right? A warm-up and a cool-down both involve doing exercises at a lower intensity and slower pace, which improves your athletic performance, prevents injuries, and helps with recovery from exercise.
Warm up activities include light jogging, or cycling slowly on a bike. Warming up before exercise prepares your cardiovascular system for physical activity, by increasing the blood flow to your muscles, and raising the temperature of your body. It also helps to lower the risk of getting injured — when your muscles are adequately warmed up, the movements, stretches, and strain you put on them during your workout is less severe.
This also minimizes muscle soreness. Cooling down after your workout aims to gradually bring your heart rate and blood pressure to its normal level — the level it was at prior to exercising. As warming up has several benefits, cooling down is also essential is preventing risks of injuries, such as muscle tears or strain on muscles. Once your muscles have been worked well, they need proper stretching while they are still warm. This helps in elongating the muscle fibers, which have been under strain while workout.
For instance, when you go for a long run without stretching out your muscles, your body becomes sore and reduces the benefits you could reap from the workout. It is a shame to put in so much effort into working out to tone your muscles, and then not take good care of them once the exercise is over. You must have noticed that the muscles tend to sore after exercising and when a significant number of DOMS kicks in after the workout, it becomes really uncomfortable and prevents you from exercising in the future.
According to a study by California State University , performing a moderate intensity cycling after a heavy workout can reduce the onset on DOMS. This indicates that cooling down after exercising helps in alleviating excessive muscle soreness, keeping you more comfortable and ready for the next workout. DOMS occurs between 24 to 48 hours after exercising, so it is a crucial time to perform cooling down exercises immediately after exercising.
As the muscles are warmed up, they are more elastic and you can utilize them in your cool-down stretching. As it reduces the chances of injuries, flexibility helps in keeping your muscles from becoming too tight or stiff.
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