You have surely heard of warm down routine and that we all should be doing them. But what exactly is a warm-down routine, and what should one include? There is so much to consider, such as what type of exercise needs to be included, and for how long? Should we be considering other treatments? If so, which ones, and how and when should we make use of them. Let’s take a closer look at this, and see what we should, be doing.

Why Though: What are the Benefits?

It brings your heart rate down, regulates your breathing back to normal and prevents dizzy spells or, at worst, fainting. It preps your muscles for the next, and subsequent sessions and removes waste exercise products such as muscular lactic acid which lessens cramping, soreness, and muscle stiffness. Basically the better you recover the more effect exercise will have and the better you will be prepared for your next session.

Low-Intensity Cardio 5-10 Minutes

The first step is some low-intensity cardio, even if you have been doing resistance training or some other non-cardio this helps bring you out of exercise mode slowly, and cardio has great health benefits such as lower risk of heart disease, so it’s a good idea at any time anyway.

Stretching Key Muscle Groups 10 Minutes

You need to make sure that you stretch off the key muscle groups, and the big question must be what are the key muscle groups? Well, the answer to this depends on what exercise you have been engaging in? So if you have been doing a heavy-duty upper body gym session then it makes perfect sense to stretch off the upper body groups of muscles as it would be a waste of time to work out everything, and very time-consuming as well.

Therapies and Treatments

The advice above is excellent and warming down and stretching off are never to be neglected, but there are plenty of therapies and treatments that can be of great use in addition to these. A good example is simply using the facilities that many gyms and health clubs have as standard features such as a sauna or a steam room, this relaxes the muscles and allows better regeneration. There are more involved ways of using treatments to recover from an exercise session, such as acupuncture which is very good for releasing tension. Or perhaps ice-based therapy such cryotherapy near Litchfield Park which is a treatment much like a traditional ice bath but much more scientifically controlled.

Injuries

One thing to be extra mindful of is nursing injuries that you have, whether they are accumulated during the session or if you are carrying them from before you started. Firstly any new injuries are to be careful with as you may not know the full extent of the damage yet. But you need to look after it, even consider the classic RICE treatment. If it is an old injury then you should have been to a doctor or other medical professional and you should follow the advice you’ve already been given.