During training your muscles will work hard and as a result will
produce waste products. It is important to do an active warm
down (in most cases a jog and stretch) after sessions. This raises the heart rate gently, which
pumps more blood round the body and flushes these waste
products away from the muscles.
A similar jog to the warm up is advisable.
Stretching when warming down is also useful, although frequently
time or willpower means this is neglected - an extra few minutes put in here can reap long term benefits.
If you can summon the
energy, it will help reduce stiffness in the following days and
can also help with the prevention of injuries.
Static stretches are the best ones to do at
this stage of a session as they help lengthen
muscles back to their state at the beginning
of the session.
