Should I Do A Cool Down After Weight Training?
- By James Villepigue CSCS
- Published 01/27/2009
When it comes to weight training, cooling down needs to be better defined. Most people will hit cardio after their weights, as glycogen is levels have been exhausted and you'll now have a better opportunity to burn some fat for energy.
There is no need to cool down with weights the way you would for cardio. If your definition of a weight training cool down was lifting lighter weights to taper off, it's actually counter-productive to your goals of building muscle.
The traditional idea behind weight training is to take a muscle group and perform a specific number of sets and than stop and proceed on to another muscle group or quit at one. Cooling down with more sets only means more work - Why would anyone want to do that - Believe me, your body doesn't want it - Your body/muscles want to recover from what should have been a high intensity weight training session.
The best way to help put them on the road to recovery is some stretching - Now if that's your definition of a cool down, than you're right on track. Stretching the muscles you just worked, can be a great way to bring blood and nutrients into the muscle for the beginning stages of muscle recovery - You will also help to rid the muscles of toxin build up as a result from weight training.
A cool down after cardio is a different story however - It is important to bring your heart rate and blood pressure back to a normal level - If you're running on a treadmill or going at it on an elypitical, cooling down can reduce the risk of injury - Think about it - If you were to just jump off the machine just after a high intensity cardio blast, you'd jump off the machine and feel like you were still moving at that highly rapid speed.
Cooling down will bring you back to a normal walking speed and acclimate you to normal conditions.
As for warm ups, people should begin paying more attention to these than anything else, especially for weight training folk. I see people all the time, just jumping into their heavy weight training, full bore. You might not feel the pain and strain of jumping the gun now, but you are likely to feel the accumulative damage at some point in your lifting career.
Warming the muscles by either performing a dynamic warm-up/stretch (not static stretch!) or even performing the weight training movement you're about to do, but with very light weight, is a great way to get your body/muscles ready for the upcoming workload.
Be smart about your training and you will reduce the chance of injury and get better results than you ever thought possible!
Make It Happen!
James CSCS
James Villepigue CSCS
James Villepigue, CSCS is an International Best Selling Author of over 22 books. Over the last 8 years, he has built one of the most successful fitness book franchises in history.
He has been involved in the health and fitness industries for over 17 years. With over one million copies of James’ books sold, he has helped many hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world—of all ages and from all walks of life—achieve extraordinary results to their body’s & their lives.
James is most passionate about sharing his mastery of getting people in their absolute best shape.
James has appeared on and is the Featured Fitness Trainer of “The Regis & Kelly Show" , The Maury Show and many other TV and radio shows. In addition to his books, he has written for national magazines like Fitness, Women's World, Muscle-Mag, Oxygen, Cosmopolitan, Self and Marie Claire.
James earned degrees from the New York College of Health Professions and Hofstra University, and is a graduate of the highly acclaimed Institute for Professional Empowerment Life/Business Coaching. He is Nationally Certified as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS©), under The NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association), a certified personal trainer with ACE (American Council on Exercise), ISSA (The International Sports Science Association) and the NBFE (National Board of Fitness Examiners).
