How To Wind Down Your Workout?

The Cool Down Period Is A Critical Part Of Any Program

After you finish that last set, sprint, or mile, we all are tempted to either hit the locker room or pick up and head directly home. The common thought is “wow I just put myself through the ringer today and I just want to get out of here.” For others like myself at times, it is “if I follow through with this cool down, I am going to be late to the office.” Either way of thinking leads us to skipping one of the most crucial parts of your program, the cool down period.

I know some of you are still thinking, I am not a professional athlete and I don’t need to follow this post workout process that will take up another 10–15 minutes of time in my day. However, those 10–15 minutes can improve your overall recovery when it comes to both muscle and tissue repair plus reduction of soreness/tightness, as well as further increase your strength building and recovery.

Deeper Dive: Muscle & Tissue Break Down

Diving deeper into the muscle and tissue repair element a little further, our bodies burn energy from glucose through a process called glycolysis. Glucose (aka blood sugar) is the main sugar found in our blood stream and main source of energy that our digestive system creates by breaking down carbohydrates from the food we have eaten. Linking back to the glycolysis, glucose is broken down or metabolized into a substance called pyruvate, which then is converted into a substance called lactate, otherwise known as lactate acid.

Now some of you may recall your gym teacher mentioning lactic acid build up may be once or at least heard the word lactic acid. Deemed by some as the main cause of post workout muscle cramping and muscle pain, lactic acid is a normal byproduct of muscle metabolism. Coupled with a high influx of white blood cells that come in to repair muscle like a EMT at an emergency site, you begin to feel DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness).

DOMS is that feeling that you get maybe 1–3 days after your workout where your muscles are sore and tender. Obviously, the level of DOMS that you suffer post workout will depend on a variety of things, including when was the last time you worked out, how intense was your workout, and if you recently changed your program where you are activating a new set of muscles. Essentially, there are several ways that you could feel that “I can’t lift my ___” or “It hurts to ____” feeling.

Quality Check

So, what should you really include in your cool down?

Personally, I have been using a 5-prone approach that has worked for me. Full disclosure, this doesn’t mean that it will work for you or does it mean you must follow it as there is not really a one size fit all method on how to cool down. These are just some elements that I use and have helped me the following day in terms of handling DOMS and recovery.

1. Cardio Cool Down

Whether you prefer walking on the treadmill, riding the bike, or hitting the elliptical, you should definitely add a short 5-minute cardio session that will lower your heart rate, keep your blood pressure stable, and calm your central nervous system.

My preference has usually been a rotation of row machine, elliptical or stationary bike where I am lightly pacing myself and slowly returning my beats per minute down to a normal state.

2. Foam & Stretch

I know for the warm up, I suggested utilizing foam rolling and dynamic stretching. However, the slight tweak to the cool down is to supplant dynamic stretching with static stretching. Static stretching in this case focuses on holding stretches for many seconds (between 10–30 seconds) where you are looking to elongate the muscle fibers and increase flexibility at the same time.

When it comes to this step I have been focusing on foam rolling and static stretching the muscles that I worked out on a specific day. For instance, if I am doing legs, I am focusing a majority of my foam rolling and stretching on my lower half of the body.

3. Hydrate

Hydration is a given and should not only be focused on post workout, but layered in throughout the workout. Usually during my timed breaks during my program for the day, I make it a point to walk to the water fountain. For post workout, I 100% ensure that I take down 2 glasses of water immediately post workout then look to hit about 1–1.5 gallons of water in-take a day.

4. Protein Shake

If you were to talk to me about 5 months early this probably would have been higher up on the list. Recently, I have moved away from the protein shake craze unless I really need it. And when I do need it, I usually put 2 scoops of Trader Joe’s Organic Hemp Protein Powder with water (Disclaimer…not the best tasting by any means).

5. Message/Acupuncture

This is a new thing that I am looking to leverage more in my cool down program, especially with my recent change in workout to the UVU Advanced Training Guide. I have found that a monthly or bi-monthly message or acupuncture session really opens my muscles, especially in my entire back region. Basically, these sessions are a nice tune up for your body that not only relax you, but also help you work out any points of issue.

Final Word

Just to reiterate like my previous post, what works for me may or may not work for you. Everyone is different when it comes to certain routines, exercises, and movements. This is just a guide that has personally worked for me that I may or may not alter to see if there are any other optimizations that can further my recovery process.

Give this article another once and let me know what you think!