Learn how to end your workout correctly to increase muscle mass and speed up your recovery from a tough workout. If the majority of athletes do the warm-up, then the cool-down is very often ignored. The main reason for this is the thought that the lesson has been completed and it is not worth wasting time for a hitch. But this is a very serious misconception that we are going to dispel today and tell you how to cool down after a workout, and why it is needed.
Why cool down?
During training, the body temperature increases significantly, the heart contracts more often, and the blood contains a large amount of oxygen and it is mainly located in those muscles that were actively working in the class. You know that training is a powerful stress for the body. We can even say more - we ourselves try to maximize this stress, otherwise the muscle growth processes will not be activated.
However, after the completion of the training, a large amount of blood continues to remain in the muscles, which leads to its stagnation. The human body is an inert mechanism and it must be pushed to perform this or that action. An example is a fast run followed by an abrupt stop. If this happens, then you will simply fall by inertia. Note that a sharp change in activity to a state of rest is harmful to the body.
The performance of the heart muscle deteriorates, and most of the internal organs are deprived of blood flow. To avoid this, a hitch after training is necessary. It is a kind of signal for the central nervous system that the training is completed, and you can proceed to the normal rhythm of work. But hitching is beneficial not only for improving health, but also for muscles. That you just trained. It's about stretching them. This leads to normalization of blood flow in them, and you return them to their previous shape.
It is known that during exercise the muscles are actively contracting and in order to increase the volume they have to decrease the length. You also know that at first the body repairs all microdamages received by tissues during training, and only after that the process of building new fibers begins. Thus, until the muscles take their natural shape, the process of their growth will not be activated.
After a while, the shape of the muscles will be restored, but this will slow down the whole process of their recovery. In addition, if the muscles do not have time to take their normal shape before the next session, they will have to work in a reduced form, which will cause discomfort for the entire musculoskeletal system. As a result, your overall mobility will decrease. If a hitch after a workout is carried out, then the process of muscle growth starts much faster. It will also increase the flexibility of joints and muscle tissues, and you will be able to use a large range of motion in all exercises in the next lesson. This has a very positive effect on the effectiveness of the training. We have already said that after stretching, more blood, oxygen and nutrients enters the muscles, which will accelerate their growth.
Note that the longer a muscle has, the higher its functionality and growth potential. And the last benefit of hitching up the muscles is to speed up the elimination of lactic acid. As you know, this metabolite is able to significantly slow down the growth of muscle tissue fibers.
Let's summarize all of the above and highlight the goals of a cool down after a workout:
- The processes of restoration of muscle tissues are accelerated.
- Lactic acid is removed from the muscles faster.
- The nervous system is relieved.
- The natural shape of the muscles returns.
- The index of elasticity of joints and muscle tissues increases.
- Blood flow is normalized.
- The muscles and internal organs receive a sufficient amount of oxygen.
- The work of the heart muscle is normalized.
- The growth potential of muscle tissue is increased.
How to cool down after a workout?
For the first five minutes, you need to do cardio. An exercise bike or treadmill is perfect for this. At the same time, begin to conduct aerobic training at a faster pace, gradually reducing it. For example, you can start running at an average pace and gradually move to a step in five minutes.
At this stage, your main task is to normalize the work of the heart and bring the heart rate to a normal state. After cardio, you need to take time to stretch movements. Do them only for the muscles that you trained today.
For each muscle, you only need to perform one movement for a minute. Most often, during a hitch, you need to perform no more than five movements, and therefore, it will take you another 5 minutes of time. Perform stretching movements gently, while avoiding the appearance of pain.
How to cool down after strength training, see the following video:
