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Cool down after running. Cooling down after training is a protection against unpleasant consequences. How to “cool down” after a workout

Warming up before running is very important. The main purpose of warming up is to prepare your body for the upcoming sports activities. During the warm-up process, the body warms up, the temperature of the muscles, ligaments and tissues rises, they become flexible. During the warm-up before running, a redistribution of blood flows occurs, the outflow of blood from the intestines and spleen, this blood flows to your muscles. It brings additional oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, which increases the body's readiness and ability to run.

After warming up before running, the body is completely ready for intense exercise. It should be noted that this load is different for everyone. Professional athletes also warm up before each training session and before competitions. They warm up each muscle group, stretch, and bend over. An athlete needs little time to warm up well - 5-10 minutes, because athletes train every day and are constantly in good condition. physical fitness. For those who engage in recreational jogging or run to lose weight, it will take a little more time to warm up, within 15-20 minutes. At the same time, during the warm-up process your heart rate will reach the desired level. entry level, necessary for the cardiovascular system to overcome changes in the intensity of movements without complications. The longer you plan to run, the longer your warm-up should be.

Some tips for warming up before running

If you go for a run in the morning, when your body has not yet woken up, then you need to warm up with special care.
First, walk one hundred to two hundred meters at a normal pace. If you are running at a stadium or in the forest, then this warm-up happens on the way there.
The pace of walking must be gradually increased, the second two hundred meters must be covered faster than the first.
Once you've finished walking, choose a place that's convenient for you where you can do the exercises. general physical training.
You should not stretch immediately before a run - the muscles are not ready and you can easily get injured.
To warm up the muscles, the workout usually begins with light jogging for 15-20 minutes at a low heart rate (120-140 beats per minute), then rotations, swings, dynamic and static stretching are performed. This will be a complete comprehensive warm-up.
The final stage of the warm-up should be a preliminary jog. Start at the slowest pace and gradually increase speed.

General physical training exercises for warming up before running

Neck. With your back straight, perform slow, smooth rotational movements head - 15-20 times in one direction and the same amount in the other. This exercise will help stretch the upper spine and improve blood supply to the brain.
Shoulder girdle. Standing straight, smoothly raise your arms up through your sides, making this movement while inhaling. At the top point, having drawn as much air into your lungs as possible, hold for 1-2 seconds and quickly lower your arms, exhaling powerfully. Repeat 20-25 times. The exercise warms up the shoulder joints and prepares the lungs for running.
Shoulder girdle, chest and lumbar regions spine. Stand straight, place your feet slightly wider than your shoulders. Place your arms to the sides. Leaning forward, alternately touch your left toe with your right hand and the right sock with your left. Try not to bend your legs at the knees. Repeat 20 times on each side.
Spine. Stand up straight, fold your arms in front of you as if you were sitting at a school desk. Smoothly turn your body to the left, as if someone called you and you turn around. Try to turn your head back as much as possible and keep your pelvis motionless. Left hand At the same time, also pull it back. Repeat the same for the right side. Perform alternately, 15-20 repetitions on each side.
Small of the back, hip joints. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your sides. Make rotational movements with your pelvis - 15 times to the left, 15 to the right.
Small of the back. Initial position the same as in the previous exercise, only rotational movements must be made with the body, bending forward, backward and to the sides as much as possible.
Knee joints. Stand straight, stretch one leg in front of you and bend at the knee. Make rotational movements with your shin - 15 times to the left and the same number to the right. Repeat the same for the other leg. If you have difficulty maintaining your balance, use your hand to support yourself.
Ankle joints. Make rotational movements with your feet - first 15 to the left, then to the right. Repeat the same for the other leg.
Hip, knee and ankle joints. Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Turn your socks slightly to the sides. Squat without lifting your heels off the ground and without bringing your knees beyond your toes. Number of repetitions – 20-25. After warming up, don’t run right away - walk at a fast pace for 100-200 meters. At the same time, try to actively move your arms like a skier to keep your heart rate slightly elevated - this way your body will be ideally prepared for running.

Cool down after running

After a run, especially an intense one, you want to quickly sit down or even lie down. Meanwhile, fatigue and shortness of breath will go away much faster if you gradually reduce the intensity of work. This tactic is especially important for the heart: a sudden stop and cessation of any bodily movements after a period of intense exercise is stress for the heart muscle. It is much better after running to smoothly switch to brisk walking, and gradually reduce the pace. This way, the heart rate will decrease slowly, and the heart will adapt to the new operating mode. To relax your muscles, do some gentle stretching after your run, focusing on your calf muscles, anterior and back surfaces hips and also long extensors spine.

Cool down should include 5-10 minutes of walking and a slow run at the end training session, as well as stretching - exercises to stretch the main muscle groups. The more active the workout, the more your body requires a cool-down.

There are a number of compelling arguments for introducing cool-downs into your training plan:

Getting rid of dizziness

When stopping abruptly after a workout, the runner stops working muscular system, but his heart does not have time to rebuild so quickly. It continues to pump blood at high speed, which as a result collects in lower limbs, resulting in a deficiency of blood in other organs of the body, including the brain. Therefore, many runners who do not practice a cool-down, after a long run, especially accompanied by a finishing spurt, experience dizziness and even loss of consciousness.

Reduced muscle pain

Cooling down also reduces the tendency for muscle tissue to stiffen after training loads. This helps reduce muscle soreness after running and eliminate delayed onset muscle soreness syndrome. In other words, muscle pain and stiffness that accompanies up to 72 hours after physical activity.

To avoid this condition, it is necessary to provide the muscles with the opportunity to work after the main session, but with much less intensity and tension. Slow running, walking and stretching exercises are the best means to effectively break down lactic acid in the muscles.

Cool-down exercises after running

Place your hands on any support (for example, a wall) as if you were pushing it forward. At the same time, put one leg back and press your heel firmly to the ground. Lean forward, feeling the stretch calf muscle. When it reaches its maximum, hold for 15-20 seconds in this position. Repeat the same for the other leg.
While standing, bend one leg at the knee and press your heel toward your buttocks. Lean your body forward to stretch the muscles in the front of your thigh. At the point of maximum stretch, hold for 15-20 seconds, repeat for the other leg. Place your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width. Lean forward, trying to reach your toes with your hands. Don't bend your knees.
Standing straight, place your hands at the back of your head. Bend alternately left and right, each time holding at the end point for 5 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times on each side.

From the very beginning it is necessary to decide what warm up before running- this is just a smooth entry into the training pulse zone with the inevitable warming up of the muscles, ligaments and joints. A hitch- this is a smooth exit from it, with a decrease in heart rate to a state of rest. It would seem that we can put an end to this. But no.

Even experienced runners make some mistakes in warming up. And most amateurs completely ignore the hitch. And not only in running, but in any sport.

Warm-up

So, the first thing to remember is that we warm up your whole body before running, and not just the legs. Including hands, cervical region and shoulder girdle. Several classic rotational movements of the joints in different directions should be included in the warm-up to supply the joints with blood and oxygen (and therefore lubrication).

Stretching

The second thing is that stretching is not at all synonymous with warming up. Stretching is a separate exercise, most often aimed at relaxation and relaxation of muscles, or at maintaining or increasing flexibility. But only then when the muscles are warmed up.

Jumping out of bed in the morning and starting to stretch before running is wrong. Cold muscles cannot be stretched. Only a warm-up is necessary to smoothly warm up the tissues and prepare the cardiovascular system, which is performed immediately before the run.

Thirdly, stretching is different. In sports, it is customary to simplistically divide it into static And dynamic. From the names it is clear that static stretching (“statics”) involves being in a stretched position for some time, about 5-20 seconds or more. And dynamic (“dynamics”) does not involve holding stretched muscles.

And finally, fourth - should I do it at all? stretching before exercise? Some amateur runners find it difficult to get rid of the stereotype that stretching is necessary before a running workout. And on cold muscles.

Moreover, many of them perform static stretching, which is precisely what is aimed at relaxing the muscles. If you really use it, then only after the muscles have done the main work, i.e. after training.

At the same time, several recent studies have shown that “static” worsens neuromuscular control and slightly affects muscle power for the worse. That is, contrary to the long-standing and quite logical belief that classical static stretching protects against injury and helps the muscle work more productively, we see almost the opposite picture.

Despite the fact that this only occurs at the initial stage of training or competition, a compelling reason to abandon static stretching before running has become quite clear for athletes. In fact, even the old Soviet running schools and textbooks taught to do dynamic stretching only after warming up the muscles light aerobic exercise and jogging.

Hitch

Cool down is important after intense workout, to gradually reduce heart rate to a resting state. Accordingly, it can be an easy run, smoothly turning into walking. The cool-down may already include elements of static stretching. Contrary to misconceptions, stretching after running only partially helps to get rid of pain in the following days, or even does not give such an effect at all. However, most experts recommend post-workout stretching.

Conclusion

The best warm-up options before running are classic spins, followed by a very light warm-up aerobic run, after which you can include elements of light dynamic stretching and gentle twisting, squats, and jumping.

This may surprise you, but a good warm-up before running will help you run a longer distance and maintain your endurance longer. even breathing and a comfortable pulse. This is because exercise not only warms up your muscles, but also prepares the entire body for the load.

During the warm-up, the “reserve” supply of blood from the spleen begins to be used. It reaches the muscles, actively supplying them with oxygen and nutrients. The muscles become more flexible, elastic and resilient, and with them the ligaments. By stretching your joints, you activate the production of synovial fluid, which lubricates them. This helps protect joints from injury and premature wear.

Your heart rate rises, reaching a point at which you feel comfortable starting a run. The body will immediately adapt to the new pace of movement, and you will not experience shortness of breath at the 30th second, as happens when you suddenly start running.

The warm-up exercises are very simple and only take 5-10 minutes to complete. So don’t be lazy—your running success and even your health depend on it.

Warm up before running

Before jogging, you need to stretch not only your legs - your whole body needs to be toned. Although special attention should, of course, be paid to the legs, as well as the spine, which also receives stress while running. We have compiled special complex exercises for a complete warm-up, including work with the main joints and muscle groups involved in the work.

Warm-up exercises before running

Neck. With your back straight, make slow, smooth rotational movements with your head - 15-20 times in one direction and the same amount in the other. This exercise will help stretch the upper spine and improve blood supply to the brain.
Shoulder girdle. Standing straight, smoothly raise your arms up through your sides, making this movement while inhaling. At the top point, having drawn as much air into your lungs as possible, hold for 1-2 seconds and quickly lower your arms, exhaling powerfully. Repeat 20-25 times. The exercise warms up the shoulder joints and prepares the lungs for running.
Shoulder girdle, thoracic and lumbar spine. Stand straight, place your feet slightly wider than your shoulders. Place your arms to the sides. Leaning forward, alternately touch your left toe with your right hand and the right sock with your left. Try not to bend your legs at the knees. Repeat 20 times on each side.
Spine. Stand up straight, fold your arms in front of you as if you were sitting at a school desk. Smoothly turn your body to the left, as if someone called you and you turn around. Try to turn your head back as much as possible and keep your pelvis motionless. At the same time, move your left hand back. Repeat the same for the right side. Perform alternately, 15-20 repetitions on each side.
Lower back, hip joints. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your sides. Make rotational movements with your pelvis - 15 times to the left, 15 to the right.
Small of the back. The starting position is the same as in the previous exercise, only rotational movements must be made with the body, bending forward, backward and to the sides as much as possible.
Knee joints. Stand straight, stretch one leg in front of you and bend at the knee. Make rotational movements with your shin - 15 times to the left and the same number to the right. Repeat the same for the other leg. If you have difficulty maintaining your balance, use your hand to support yourself.
Ankle joints. Make rotational movements with your feet - first 15 to the left, then to the right. Repeat the same for the other leg.
Hip, knee and ankle joints. Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart. Turn your socks slightly to the sides. Squat without lifting your heels off the ground and without bringing your knees beyond your toes. Number of repetitions – 20-25.

After warming up, don’t run right away - walk at a fast pace for 100-200 meters. At the same time, try to actively move your arms like a skier to keep your heart rate slightly elevated - this way your body will be ideally prepared for running.

Cool down after running

After a run, especially an intense one, you want to quickly sit down or even lie down. Meanwhile, fatigue and shortness of breath will go away much faster if you gradually reduce the intensity of work. This tactic is especially important for the heart: a sudden stop and cessation of any bodily movements after a period of intense exercise is stress for the heart muscle. It is much better to gradually switch to brisk walking after running and gradually reduce the pace. This way, the heart rate will decrease slowly, and the heart will adapt to the new operating mode.

To relax your muscles, do some gentle stretching after your run, focusing on your calf muscles, the front and back of your thighs, and the long extensor spinae.

Cool down exercises

Place your hands on any support (for example, a wall) as if you were pushing it forward. At the same time, put one leg back and press your heel firmly to the ground. Lean forward, feeling the stretch in your calf muscle. When it reaches its maximum, hold for 15-20 seconds in this position. Repeat the same for the other leg.
While standing, bend one leg at the knee and press your heel toward your buttocks. Lean your body forward to stretch the muscles in the front of your thigh. At the point of maximum stretch, hold for 15-20 seconds, repeat for the other leg.
Place your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width. Lean forward, trying to reach your toes with your hands. Don't bend your knees.
Standing straight, place your hands at the back of your head. Bend alternately left and right, each time holding at the end point for 5 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times on each side.

Style Summary

We have written more than once about how important warm-up and cool-down are in any workout. As you can see, running is no exception. We hope that this material will help you improve your running results and make your runs as healthy as possible.

Most people skip the cool-down (exercises that "cool down" the body after exercise), replacing it with a few stretches and a shower. But many sports enthusiasts, coaches and instructors still believe in the benefits of cool-downs as a means of preventing muscle soreness or improving recovery. Is it really important to cool down after every workout?

There are now quite a few studies that show that cooling down after exercise does not reduce muscle soreness. This does not mean that the cool-down is useless in principle, but it will not relieve pain and will not speed up recovery.

Recent research has quite convincingly debunked the following so-called benefits of a post-workout cool-down. According to modern scientific data, a cool down has little effect on:
Pain after workout
Muscle recovery after training
Increased flexibility
Increased Strength
Injury Prevention

In fact, only a thorough warm-up before exercise is likely to reduce subsequent muscle soreness and is effective method injury prevention.

Cool down - The final stage normal workout. It includes low-intensity exercise such as low-intensity running or cycling and other light activities aerobic exercise. Cooling down makes you feel better after an intense workout and improves your mental state. You can get obvious benefits from a cool-down by doing it after working at maximum intensity. Whether you're coming off a grueling submaximal-intensity workout or finishing a sprint, a cool-down will help keep you from feeling dizzy or faint. By performing low-intensity exercise immediately after high-intensity exercise, you will allow your circulatory system to slowly return to a resting state while maintaining proper blood pressure. When an athlete faints after performing maximum work(or when crossing the finish line), the mechanism of fainting in this case is explained by the fact that during running there is a significant redistribution of blood, a significant dilation of the vessels of the lower extremities and their abundant supply of arterial blood. With a sudden stop, one of the main mechanisms of blood rising through the veins to the heart against gravity stops working - the so-called “muscle pump” and blood accumulates in the dilated vessels of the lower extremities, an insufficient amount of blood enters the heart, cardiac output decreases, this impairs blood supply to the brain and fainting occurs. This condition is called postural hypotension and can also be observed with a sudden transition from horizontal to vertical position or during a prolonged immobile state (for example, at a parade), when blood stagnation also forms in the lower extremities and the brain is deprived of blood supply.

In addition, it has been proven that cooling down accelerates the clearance of lactate from the blood that has accumulated as a result of intense exercise. This way, you can quickly get rid of swelling, acidity and “clogged” muscles after exercise. This is especially true when you need to perform maximum short-term exercise (such as sprinting) at limited intervals.

All of the above does not mean that you should stop doing cool downs if you are used to doing them. You just have to understand exactly why you are doing it, what it can help you with, and what it can’t.

Prepared by: Sergey Koval

So, the last segment is done! But this does not mean that you should stop right away or rush to change clothes and close up " carbohydrate window" Cooling down after running allows you to smoothly transfer the body from training mode to normal mode, and also get maximum effect from training.

In the previous publication we already talked about before running. But an equally important component of training is exercise after running - the so-called cool-down.

The cool-down is the final part of almost every workout in endurance sports, including running. The duration of the cool-down, depending on the intensity of the workout and the availability of time, will vary from 10 to 20 minutes.

Why do you need a cool down?

First of all, a cool-down allows you to smoothly reduce the load on the cardiovascular system and the intensity of your heart’s work. Thus, the increased heart rate and blood pressure during the main workout gradually return to their normal levels. An abrupt stop immediately after performing exercises can lead to a sharp decrease in blood pressure and, as a result, to loss of consciousness.

In addition, during training, the concentration in the blood, muscles, and organs increases and various metabolic products accumulate: lactate, stress hormones, carbon dioxide, free radicals etc. It takes time to remove them or neutralize them. This is precisely what low-intensity work during the cool-down contributes to.

Another reason to do exercises after running is the opportunity to relax the muscles and ligaments, relieving residual tension and smoothly preparing the body to exit the training mode into a state of rest and recovery. Without a cool-down, cooling of the muscles can be accompanied by stagnation of blood and, as a result, the occurrence of discomfort and pain.

And, of course, the cool-down also provides gradual inhibition of the nervous system. This may be even more important if the workout takes place in the evening to avoid overstimulation and sleep problems.

When to Cool Down

To obtain maximum effect and benefit, the cool-down is performed almost immediately after the completion of the main part of the workout, until the heart rate () falls below the pulse zone in which the cool-down itself will be carried out.

Important points to cool down after running

The cool-down, as mentioned above, should be done almost immediately after completing the main workout. Performing a cool-down a few minutes afterward significantly reduces its effectiveness (primarily for the cardiovascular system), and after 5 minutes or more, it actually neutralizes the effect.

After low-intensity workouts (jogging, easy running), a cool-down is not necessary. The load from such training is small, so the body's systems will transition quite smoothly from training to rest. At the same time, performing stretching exercises, strengthening joints, and general physical training even after light training gives enough good effect to increase your fitness level.

In winter, as well as in autumn and spring, when training takes place outside at low temperatures, cool-down stretching and flexibility exercises must be done indoors to avoid hypothermia.

Cool-down exercises after running

One of the most universal exercises Cool downs include stretching after running. Jogging helps reduce increased stress and normalize the functioning of the heart, lungs and other organs, as well as remove remaining lactate from the muscles. Even 10 minutes of jogging at up to 120 beats per minute will be enough for effective recovery.

It will be equally useful to perform sets of exercises during the cool-down to stretch, develop flexibility, and strengthen joints and ligaments. Such exercises after running involve both legs and arms, as well as the core muscles and practically do not put stress on the body. cardiovascular system. Since most of these exercises are performed statically, you should start them after jogging. How to cool down after a run, as well as stretching exercises after running, are presented in the VIDEO:

For lovers of trail running, you can also use a slightly different set of stretching exercises, which takes into account the specifics of this type of running VIDEO:

For beginners or those whose level of training is not yet high, it is recommended to use it as a cool-down after running. simple walking. The duration of such a cool-down is also about 10-15 minutes, with a transition from a fast pace to a gradual slowdown.

Thus, exercise after running is simply necessary for a smooth transition of the body from training mode to rest mode and subsequent recovery. A high-quality cool-down allows you to get the maximum effect from your workout.