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The Cool Down

Not global warming, or the economy. Those are taking care of themselves for the time being. After breakfast, the cool down phase of a workout is often the most neglected, and is often cast off as not being needed. However, for continued health, and reducing the risk of injury it is one of the most important parts of your workout.

Why?

The goal, is to return your body to a pre-workout state. This is important, because as you workout your body goes through quite a bit of change, and the stresses of the workout cause muscle fiber damage, and toxins to build up in your system. If done properly a cool down will help your body begin it’s repair process, and help you come back stronger than you were before.

Successful cool down.

A successful cool down will incorporate these three things:

1. Light exercise - This can usually be done right after you are done working out. Run 3 miles, walk for five or ten minutes. Bike hard? Spin lightly for a few miles. You get the picture. While doing this, concentrate on breathing deeply and getting your breathing back under control.
2. Stretch - Five to ten minutes of slow, light static stretching.
3. Re-Fuel - This has a few parts to it, to start, replace water and electrolytes (sports drink). Then eat something. Stick to things that are easy to digest, and keep in mind that the time where this will be most effective is within 2 hours of working out.

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