After you've been training, sweated through burpees and push-ups, cranked out your intervals, finished up your long run, and put the weights back in the rack, it's time to get home, right? While it might be tempting to finish your workout and head home, taking a few minutes to cool down can make all the difference between healthy, strong, and fit--and injured.
Woman stretching
After you've been training, sweated through burpees and push-ups, cranked out your intervals, finished up your long run, and put the weights back in the rack, it's time to get home, right? While it might be tempting to finish your workout and head home, taking a few minutes to cool down can make all the difference between healthy, strong, and fit--and injured.
The goal of a cool down is to keep the blood flowing post-workout. You've just put pressure on your body, including the muscles, fascias, ligaments, joints, tendons, and nerves, and going from 8 x 800 meter runs or a 1 rep max for the deadlift this can be a recipe for disaster if you don't cool down.
Add on 10-15 extra minutes to make sure your body performs (and recovers) as best as it can by following this routine, courtesy of Nickademus de la Rosa, owner of Lucky 13 Endurance Coaching.
Meanwhile, for the working class, fitting in a lunchtime workout is a nice way to break up a long day of sitting, but no one likes walking back into the office with a beet-red face and sweat stains. Next time you've got an intense workout planned over lunch, follow these five simple steps to cool down quickly after.
1) Pre-cool Before The Workout
Cooling down before a run or workout not only slows the rate of your body temperature increasing during the workout, but also improves your performance, according to research published in Sports Medicine. To pre-cool, begin hydrating at least two hours before your workout with cold drinks, sit in an air-conditioned room, or have some cooling packs on hand.
2) Stretch It Out Post-workout
You probably want to hop in the shower immediately after that speedy three-miler, but be sure to cool down, first. Walk and stretch for at least ten minutes until your heart rate slows down. This will prevent you from getting the gross post-shower sweats and, more important, from passing out from that heat.
3) Take a hot-and-cold shower
Once you've cooled down, hit the showers. Just make sure it's not cold the entire time. A Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport study found that athletes who alternated soaking in hot and cold water after exercising experienced a significant reduction in their heart rate and blood lactate levels.
4) Smooth On Skin-cooling Lotion
After a shower, hydrate your skin with a lotion that contains cooling properties like menthol, such as Aveeno's new skin relief healing ointment or American Crew's post-shave cooling lotion for men. These lotions work just as aloe vera does with sunburn, but without the sticky feeling.
5) Drink Peppermint Tea- hot Pr Cold
The body works in funny ways. Research shows that in dry, hot climates, having a hot drink actually helps us cool off, since the heat from the drink triggers a sweating response. The caveat: The sweat has to evaporate for the cooling effect to actually occur, so this method won't work in humid climates . Instead, stick to iced tea with peppermint, which contains the cooling compound menthol.
6. Cool Down Jog
Following your workout, take five minutes to jog. This should be a truly easy effort, and slow enough where you could maintain a full conversation. Use this time to focus on good form, (if you're running, for example, think about landing under your center of mass to avoid overstriding and heel striking), but keep it relaxed. Your heart rate should be decreasing, not increasing.
7. Walk and breathe
Now take five minutes to walk, focusing on deep breathing. Bettering your breathing habits can actually improve your performance by increasing your efficiency. Take a deep breath and notice your shoulders. Did they move up and down? If so, you're likely breathing wrong. Instead, breathe through your diaphragm. Don't know where it is? You'll be able to feel it moving up and down as you breathe if you place a hand on your stomach.
Then, when you feel comfortable try alternate-nostril breathing. It might look strange, but you'll quickly come to take better notice of your breath. Start by covering your left nostril. Inhale through your right nostril, then close the right, open the left, and exhale through your left nostril. Repeat so that you inhale through your left nostril, close it, open the right, and exhale through your first nostril.
8) Dead Bugs
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Lying on your back, place your hands in the air and your feet, bent at 90°, in the air as well. Contract your core and slowly lower your right arm above your head, simultaneously lowering your left leg. Now bring up your right arm and left leg to the beginning position; now lower your left arm and right leg. Perform 10 repetitions on each side.
9) Cat-Cow
Taking all fours, slowly round your back, simultaneously hollowing your core, to look like a stretching cat.. Breathe in. Now breathe out, raising your head up and stretching your lower back into cow pose. Repeat 10 times.
10) Foam Roll
Spend your remaining time working through any areas that need lengthening. (For example, says Nickademus, "I know for a fact that my hip flexors get tight, so I would spend some time working on those.") Use a foam roller, lacrosse ball, or even tennis ball on muscles that feel knotted up. Nickademus recommends laying on a lacrosse ball and applying pressure to the affected area until you feel it loosen. "Working around the affected area can be a good way to fix sore spots, especially if they're still tight to the touch. Once the areas around the affected area are loose, gradually move closer and closer to the sore spot.
