Cooling down is an important component of the training process, but attention is rarely paid to it. Learn how to cool down properly after a hard workout. Often, athletes simply ignore a hitch, believing that it is a waste of time. At the same time, if you look closely at the high-level athletes taking part in the largest crossfit tournaments, they often use aerodynamics after their performance.
Some may visit a rowing machine after exercising. All this takes no more than ten minutes. Have you ever wondered what this might be related to? The point is that a cool down is just as important an element of training as a warm up. Today we'll look at 3 reasons to cool down at the end of your workout.
What is a hitch for?
You must understand that a hitch is not an active recovery. It involves moderate physical activity after exercising while you are still in the gym. In turn, active recovery involves physical activity, which you will manifest after you return home or even the next day. After training, a large number of harmful metabolites accumulate in the body.
Thanks to a hitch, you return your body to the state in which it was before the start of the class. During the training, powerful stress acts on all systems, and a hitch is an excellent tool for speeding up recovery processes. As you probably know, intense exercise leads to a build-up of large amounts of lactic acid (the most famous metabolite). This substance is found in the tissues of muscles and blood, negatively affecting the body. Thanks to the hitch, the processes of their elimination are accelerated, as well as the blood vessels expand, which increases the speed of blood flow throughout the body and especially in the legs.
If, after training, you abruptly stop physical activity without performing a hitch, then the heart will continue to work at a high speed, which will cause a rush of blood to the lower extremities. As a result, it can even lead to fainting. The higher your training experience, the more danger you put yourself in. This is due to the fact that the volume of blood in your body is significantly higher in comparison with the average person. Surely you have come across such a phenomenon as late pain in the muscles, which is also called DOMS. This is one of the side effects of high intensity training. Pain sensations may appear eight or more hours after the end of the workout. In turn, most often the peak of these pain sensations falls on the second or third day.
Previously, scientists were convinced that all of these negative effects of hard training are associated with lactic acid. But in the course of recent studies, it was established that the true cause of the appearance of DOMS is microtrauma of the connective tissues. This is quite logical, because during training, the muscles lengthen, and not only muscle tissue is injured, but also the connective tissue.
If you use a hitch, the body will quickly clear itself of harmful substances that slow down recovery. Of course, a hitch will not relieve you of subsequent pain, but they will be able to recover faster. Also, a hitch will accelerate the delivery of nutrients to muscle tissue, which is very important for their full recovery.
Learn more about how to cool down after a workout in this video:
