The focus of this lesson is to teach you about cooling down after you work out.
In this lesson, you will learn
- what is considered cooling down after a workout
- what order to do your cool down in
- what it means to do cardio after working out
- static stretching after you work out
What is considered cooling down
Individuals need to cool down their muscles after completing a resistance weight training workout, playing a sport, or doing high-intensity interval training. The purpose of cooling down is to lower your heart rate and blood pressure to a rate of normalcy as well as reduce the amount of lactic acid that builds up in the muscle while performing at a high level. The hope is that you will be able to minimize or eliminate your muscle soreness after working out. Cooling down does not take more than 10-15 minutes after you working out.
You should do your cool downs in this order
- light cardio
- static stretching
Step 1: Cooling down doing cardio
Right after working out, you need to do some cardiovascular exercise. You can do any of the low-intensity steady-state cardio exercises that the Low-intensity steady-state cardio Vs. High-intensity interval training lesson list.
The goal is to have you do 5-10 minutes of cardio that keeps you right around your aerobic threshold (50%-55% of your maximum heart rate) to slow your heart rate down but get your blood pumping enough to flush out the lactic acid that has accumulates during exercising or playing a sport.
Step 2: Static stretching to cool down
You need to stretch before you work out and after you work. However, you only really want to do static stretching after you work out to cool down.
As mentioned before, static stretch is where you move toward the furthest extended part in your range of motion in a stretch and hold it there from 20-60 seconds. This can be held there by yourself or someone else. It is vitally important you do not have that person extend past your range of motion. This can cause you severe strain or injury if they do.
Wrapping it up
The focus of this lesson is to teach you what to do after you work out. You must follow this order to be successful in cooling down your muscles properly.
Activity
Please look up the static stretching exercises you can do to cool down after working out. Write down some for each day.
Leg day: https://www.google.com/search?q=static+stretching+leg+exercises
Chest day: https://www.google.com/search?q=Static+chest+stretches
Shoulder day: https://www.google.com/search?q=Static+shoulder+stretches
Back day: https://www.google.com/search?q=Static+back+stretches