Sports cooling

Sports cooling

When practicing one type of exercise, great emphasis is always placed on the sports warm-up. We know that this practice helps prevent injuries and improve performance during the session. And it is that the joints, tendons and muscles are activated and become more flexible helping to prevent possible injuries due to jerks or unexpected impacts. However, not so much is said or taken into account sports cooling. It is the practice that is carried out at the end of the training with the same objective of the warm-up but it serves to stabilize the body again.

In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics and importance of sports cooling.

Physical activity and performance

When we train or perform any session of physical activity it is important to comply with all the phases that are required for a good result. These phases are: sports warm-up, exercise and sports cool-down. Each phase has its main objective. If all these phases are fulfilled correctly we will achieve better results and a benefit for our health. In addition, it will help us prevent possible injuries and muscle pain.

There are people who confuse sports warm-up and sports cool-down with the disappearance of shoelaces. One thing has nothing to do with the other. The stiffness appears due to over-training in a specific muscle group. It either appears because the muscle is not sufficiently trained for the load it has been subjected to or because it was not used to this effort. If we train and look for good results we should not look for soreness.

As we already know, warming up before a session of physical activity helps prepare the muscles and the body for the next phase. In this phase we will be training or exercising the action itself. At the end of the session, it is just as important to do a sports cool-down or cool down as it is to warm up beforehand. Cooling is usually downplayed, although its performance is known to be of particular relevance.

For almost any type of training it is interesting to cool down.

What is sports cooling

Sports cooling after exercise

It is defined mainly by the process that is carried out after a physical activity that has a medium effort character. Its purpose is to be able to dismiss the body to return to resting metabolic values. It also influences neuromuscular adaptations to be able to reach the initial situation at rest. It is important to calm down if you exercise so that the intensity of the effort can be progressively reduced. In this way, we will not make the muscles cool down quickly and we may have an injury.

You have probably heard of a person saying that his calf has "gone up" after a running session. Most likely, that person has finished sports and sat or lay down without doing a proper sports cool-down. If a muscle that is in continuous stimulation we leave it in total rest if a previous cooling, then when it is time to reactivate it it may not fulfill the same function and we end up hitting ourselves.

The main objectives of sports cooling are the following:

  • Helps normalize organic functions and the general homeostatic balance of the body. Homeostasis is the state in which the body is completely at rest and metabolic functions work properly. The body normally tends to homeostasis and therefore there are stagnations when it comes to improving workouts.
  • Restore energy substrates and overcompensate the body. Overcompensation is one of the main goals of a workout. Mainly we must adapt to training and keep improving more and more. Surely you have ever heard someone say that on trains to be a little stronger every day.
  • The ultimate goal is to restore the structural elements of cells and all enzyme systems. Let's not forget that our cellular and metabolic system is continuously acting during the training process.

Necessary phases of sports cooling

For sports cooling to be more efficient and fulfill its main functions, the use of suitable clothing is necessary. And this requires some more specific recovery movements not finished with training. Also it is necessary to carry out sports cooling after a competition It is essential that various stretching exercises are used that aim to contract the muscles that have been involved in the activity performed.

The duration of the sports cool-down should be around 10 min. Experts don't like to put time limits on both warm-up and cool-down. This is because each person needs a different warm-up or cool-down. There are people who are in worse physical condition and who will need both more time to warm up and more time to reestablish the body. These people are more prone to injury, so more emphasis should be placed on these stretches.

The phases of sports cooling can generate the following benefits:

  • Improves overall flexibility.
  • Helps increase the tensile strength and elasticity of muscles, ligaments and fasciae.
  • Improve our muscular strength.
  • It favors the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries.
  • Prevents possible injuries after training.

During this process it is convenient to carry out some activity such as pedaling or applying some breathing relaxation techniques. Massages facilitate venous return and stretching to prevent injuries and improve flexibility. All these activities improve blood transport and eliminate accumulated lactic acid in the muscles.

Anyone can recover properly thanks to sports cooling without overloading their body. There are many people who, due to lack of time or because they do not have the habit, or leave this recovery phase aside. It is essential to make dairy that our body will rest in better conditions and this will translate into better profits.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about sports cooling.


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