Posted on July 30, 2015 by Kate Halsall

How many of you finish a workout, immediately get in the shower or grab your kit and go home? As with a warm up being important and often missed, so too is the cool down. During our workout we get our heart beating faster, get our blood pumping around our bodies, get hot and sweaty and then we just……..stop! Wow – hello lactic acid, nausea, dizziness and light-headedness! So here’s our low down on how to cool down and why.

Why Cool Down?

In a nutshell, for the following reasons:

• To reduce your body temperature
• To prevent your blood pressure from dropping rapidly
• To return your breathing to a normal pace
• To prevent blood pooling
• To return your muscles to their optimal length & tension
• To re-balance your nervous systems
• To help disperse lactic acid

How to Cool Down?

Firstly, let’s be specific about what a cool down is. Essentially, it’s lower intensity activity after an exercise session. So if you have been out for a run, simply jogging at a slower pace could be classed as a cool down. We should also note that it is important to cool down after a weights workout and not just after a cardio one. Your cool down should also be whole body focused, good cool downs after a weight sessions include some light cardio for 5 minutes either walking, cycling or cross trainer.

What About Stretching?

There’s a lot of differing opinions around stretching both before and after a workout. There is evidence to suggest that stretching does not significantly decrease Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), and there are questions as to effectiveness on the reduction of injuries. So I look at stretching like this : done correctly, stretching won’t give you an injury, it will help to maintain circulation in key muscle areas and ultimately whilst your muscles are warm, stretching will help with flexibility and functional mobility.

At minimum your stretching routine should involve:

• Hamstring stretches
• Chest & back stretches
• Calf stretches
• Glute stretches

So many people forget about cooling down , but performing your warm up and cool downs are as important as the workout itself so make sure you make time to include both as part of your next workout.