Cooldown: How to warm up properly

A cooldown after exercise relaxes your body. This is very important for your muscles and your cardiovascular system. This is how you warm up properly.

With a cooldown, you regenerate your body after exercise and prevent injuries. You also get less muscle soreness after a cooldown.

The cardiovascular system is constantly active when exercising, for example the pulse rate and breathing rate are increased. After exercise, it is important to slowly normalize this system. If you stop exercising too abruptly, your blood pressure can drop. This leads to dizziness, headaches or even fainting. You can prevent this with a targeted cooldown. There are two phases to cooling down properly after exercise.

Cooldown: Phase 1

The aim of the first phase of the cooldown is to reduce the strain. The body should slowly recover. The strain intensity is reduced little by little and the circulation is stabilized.

As with the warm-up, you should do light exercises when cooling down:

• Cool down: After jogging, you should cool down for ten minutes, gradually slowing down. You can do the same if you are cycling.

• Cardio: In the gym you can use a cardio machine to cool down.

• Swimming: You can swim two or three lengths slowly, breathing calmly and deliberately.

• If you do another sport, you can also do warm-up exercises to cool down. These exercises are usually easy to coordinate and not very strenuous.

Cooldown: Phase 2

Cooling down properly also means allowing your muscles to recover and relax. This happens during the second phase of the cooldown.

There are several options for this:

• Showers: A warm shower relaxes your muscles and expands the blood vessels. This improves blood flow to the individual muscle strands and allows them to regenerate. But a cold shower is also a good way to cool down. This causes the blood vessels to contract and inhibits small inflammations. It is best to take a contrast shower and alternate between warm and cold water every 20 to 30 seconds.

• Fascia rolls: They loosen up the muscles and promote the breakdown of metabolic waste products. There are also many fascia roll exercises that you can do at home.

• Stretching: Stretching promotes blood circulation and can reduce tension. It is especially important to stretch your legs after endurance sports.

• Massage: After jogging or cycling, for example, the calves are particularly stressed. You can loosen up and massage this part of the body with your hands. This will prevent tension and prevent sore muscles the next day.

• Breathing exercises: Targeted breathing relaxes the body. This lowers the heart rate and blood pressure. Breathe in and out deeply during the cooldown. This will ensure that your muscles are supplied with enough oxygen.

Cooldown tips

To prepare yourself optimally for your cooldown, here are some more tips:

• It is also very important that you drink plenty of fluids after exercise. Therefore, you should take a drinking break after exercise and between cooldown phases.
• There are many different videos for a cooldown on YouTube. You can easily find suggestions for the second phase there.
• Put on a tracksuit jacket or keep one handy. As your cardiovascular system returns to normal, you may quickly feel cold in your sweaty sportswear.

Read more on utopia.de:

• Stretching hip flexors: 3 healthy exercises
• Fascia massage: What you should pay attention to
• Early morning exercise: 8 reasons for a morning workout

Edited by Melanie Grünauer

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