We all know why we train for our sport. It’s no secret that in order to get better at any skill, some sort of practicing must take place in order to gain an adaptation that will translate to the field of play. Adaptations that come in the form of increased cardiovascular capacity or absolute strength are easily identifiable by athletes, and for this reason, are received with minimal groaning and complaints.
Consisting of a warm-up, workout, and cool down, most training sessions don’t have a problem incorporating the first two correctly. Why would there be a problem? Obviously, if you don’t train, you won’t reap an adaption, a very simple truth. Warming up, admittedly not as clear-cut an activity, is still something that is observed by even the most uninformed of coaches for its ability to prime to body for whatever training stimulus it’s about to receive. Cooling down, however, is not so easily received.
Dependent upon the training session and the amount of physical exertion that an athlete is put through, a lot can occur inside of the body. For the sake of relatability across the various sports, let’s look at high intensity interval training (HIIT) for example. During one of these extremely metabolically taxing workout sessions, in which bodily temperature and heartrate significantly increase, a considerable amount of waste product is built up inside of the muscles, and adrenaline and endorphins are released into the circulatory system (1). As a result of all of these occurrences, the circulatory system is forced to work double time in order to efficiently transport blood to and from the heart in order to keep up with this metabolic demand that is being imposed on the body.
With these facts in mind, imagine what would happen to the body if this extremely strenuous process were to suddenly come to an abrupt halt.
From the novice athlete to the elite professional, this is a common occurrence. Whether your plea is ignorance in regard to fundamental cool down protocol, or you simply just don’t feel like it, the fact is that if you fail to cool down, you are not training optimally. When sudden cessation of exercise occurs in HIIT, the forces that were working double time to pump blood back to the heart come to a complete stop as well. As a result, waste products, such as the infamous lactic acid, are left to occupy muscle tissue and cause a whole heap of avoidable problems (2).
Cooling down is not a guarantee that you will not be sore after a difficult bout of training. It does, however, place your body in the best possible state it can be in for the next session and conceivably all that will follow. The overarching intent of a cool down is to gradually lower the heart rate and return the body as close to its original state as possible so you’ll be best prepared for the next training session.
There’s no magic bullet cool down routine. Some jogging, skipping, leg swings, or maybe even a few barefoot walks will certainly suffice. Just make sure that you are being active and slowly bringing about the lowering of your heart rate. Whatever you do, JUST DO IT!
- “Introduction to Cooling Down.” PhysioRoom.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.
- “Injury Prevention.” Brianmac.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.
Leave A Comment