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Benefits To Cooling Down After A Workout

Updated on January 30, 2011

Why Cool Down?

 There are many reasons to cool down after a workout.  And it seems that for every reason to cool down, there is a reason not to.  Whether it's time contraints, lack of energy, or plain old lack of knowledge there's always an excuse.  I never used to cool down, never thought I needed to.  Until I passes out in he middle of the leg machines.  I had just done 60 minutes of cardio (with no warm up either I might add) and was on my way to the leg press when it happened.  There were a few other things going on at the time to though.  On my quest to lose weight I was consumed less than half the amount of calories I should have for the day and wasn't really "into" drinking water wile I worked out. Add all that to major amounts of blood pooling at the bottom of my extremeties and not getting to my brain, and you can see why I passed out.

Now, what happens when you cool down is very important.  But, let's look at what happens when you don't.  Lactic acid is produced when exercising, and if you don't cool down properly the body cannot rid itself of this buildup and cause muscle soreness.  Also, like I said above, it can cause blood to pool to your lower extremeties, resulting in less bloodflow to your brain causing dizzyness or fainting.  This in turn causes your heart to work harder to pump your blood causing rapid pulse.

Top Five Benefits To Cooling Down Post Workout.

1.Brings the heart rate back down to resting rate.

2.Reduces lactic acid build up.

3.Reduces excess adrenaline in the body.

4.Allows the normal breathing pattern to return.

5.Allows the core body temperature to normalize.

Considerations For Cooling Down

When cooling down after a workout one must keep several things in mind.  First is the length of time to cool down.  A good cool down can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 15.  Age, health, and general fitness condition are all factors.  In addition to light cardio static stretching should be included.  There should never be any pain associated with a cool down, although there may be some slight discomfort.  As important as the cool down is, it goes hand in hand with a good workout and warm up.

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