The Post workout
cool down. No I am not talking about turning on the A/C in your car, but the
post workout mobility and stretching techniques. This post workout cool down
not only can improve our flexibility in our tight muscles, but it can also
bring our bodies back down to homeostasis in a sense. This means a gradual
reduced heart rate and less veneous pooling of blood in our extremities. Those
with asthma can see this as reducing the possibility of an attack or episode
and will make breathing easier post exercise. This can also be seen as to help
flush the lactic acid in our muscles from the intense WOD (Workout of the Day)
that we just finished. This lactic acid is the feeling of muscle soreness that
we receive from the stimulus of progressive work. We can experience this
directly after a WOD or it can be the next morning when we wake up. This
feeling of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is what will determine our
ability to perform in the next workout or perhaps in other everyday activities.
As you can see the importance of the use of mobility work is vital to our well
being and performance. I recommend trying out a few stretches or light
conditioning post workout to aid in our progress. This does not actually have
to take a whole 30 minutes, but perhaps 5 to 10 minutes for optimal
applications. Some examples of stretching techniques and active cool downs can
be used as follows;
Static stretching-
Holding the stretch for 30 to 45 seconds per side.
Active Isolated
stretching- Holding a stretch for 1-2 seconds for 10 reps on each side.
Self myofacial
release- Rolling for 30 seconds to a minute per side. When a muscle knot is
felt/found, hold pressure and create a slight wiggle effect to loosen up the
bundle of fibers. This includes foam rolling, stick rolling, using a lacrosse
ball, and smashing by using weight on a muscle.
Use of conditioning-
Walking or biking for a selected amount of time or distance such as for 5
minutes or 400 meters.
-Christopher
H.
No comments:
Post a Comment