Many people dismiss the cool down as a waste of time, or simply unimportant. In
reality the cool down is just as important as the warm up, and if you want to stay
injury free, it's vital.
Although the warm up and cool down are just as important as each other, they are
important for different reasons. While the main purpose of warming up is to prepare
the body and mind for strenuous activity, cooling down plays a different role.
Why Cool Down?
The main aim of the cool down is to promote recovery and return the body to a pre
exercise, or pre work out level. During a strenuous work out your body goes through
a number of stressful processes. Muscle fibres, tendons and ligaments get damaged,
and waste products build up within your body.
The cool down, performed properly, will assist your body in its repair process.
One area the cool down will help with, is "post exercise muscle soreness."
This is the soreness that is usually experienced the day after a tough work out.
Most people experience this after having a lay-off from exercise, or at the beginning
of their sports season. I remember running a half marathon with very little preparation,
and finding it difficult to walk down steps the next day because my quadriceps were
so sore. That discomfort is "post exercise muscle soreness."
This soreness is caused by a number of things. Firstly, during exercise, tiny tears
called micro tears develop within the muscle fibres. These micro tears cause swelling
of the muscle tissues which in turn puts pressure on the nerve endings and results
in pain.
Secondly, when exercising, your heart is pumping large amount of blood to the working
muscles. This blood is carrying both oxygen and nutrients that the working muscles
need. When the blood reaches the muscles the oxygen and nutrients are used up. Then
the force of the contracting (exercising) muscles pushes the blood back to the heart
where it is re-oxygenated.
However, when the exercise stops, so does the force that pushes the blood back to
the heart. This blood, as well as waste products like lactic acid, stays in the
muscles, which in turn causes swelling and pain. This process is often referred
to as "blood pooling."