Cooling Down

You have probably heard all about warming up before engaging in rigorous physical activities. Most athletes and sports participants agree that warming up with stretching, light exercise, or some...

You have probably heard all about warming up before engaging in rigorous physical activities. Most athletes and sports participants agree that warming up with stretching, light exercise, or some other easy routine is a great way to prepare their bodies for the impending game or exercise. What happens, however, after you have finished and the game or activity is finished? Do you simply walk away from the activity, or do you slow things down gradually to let your body know that it can stop working so hard? Many exercise experts suggest a gradual cool down after any type of difficult or lengthy physical exertion, but this is a step that plenty of athletes and sports participants ignore, much to their detriment. Whenever you don’t allow your body adequate transition time from one activity to another you may be opening yourself up to injuries.

How does cooling down work? You can easily compare the cooling down process to the routine a treadmill takes you through for a run. When you allow the treadmill to administer a computer generated workout for you it usually goes in this order: warm up, then the actual workout with varying degrees of effort required, and then cool down consisting of three or five minutes of a gradual decline in effort. The workout may end in a light job or with a walk, but the point is that the workout started slow, became more intense, and then at the conclusion it allowed the body the time to cool down and slowly transition back to a normal pace.

The cool down period has many benefits when avoiding sports injuries. By smoothly transitioning from one pace to another, you give your muscles and your joints the benefit of some continuity. There is no abrupt switch from strenuous exercise to suddenly standing still. Abrupt changes in level of activity – whether from standing to sprinting or the other way around – are not good for your muscles and other body parts and can lead to injuries. You should also think about your heart, and the way it performs. Unless you want to invite heart problems, it’s a good idea to work with your heart instead of against it.

The amount of cool down time you need depends on the level of intensity of you r physical activity and what amount of cool down has been sufficient in the past for you. One of the very best ways to cool down from any activity is to simply walk. As your breathing returns to normal and your heart rate starts to drop, walking will be a great transition for your body from strenuous exertion to a comfortable level of exertion. You may not even need very much time for cooling down, especially if you are in great shape and you weren’t working too hard to begin with. If an extra three or five minutes of cool down from a sport or other physical activity can help you prevent injuries, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t add this practice to your regiment.

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