We arrive early to class to foam roll and stretch. We take a solid 15 minutes warming up, doing pass-throughs, inchworms and spidermans. We take our time on the skill, slowly increasing the weight on the barbell. Before the WOD, we try out our working weights and think over strategies. Then there’s 5-20 minutes of complete and utter insanity and electricity as we attack the WOD and push ourselves to our absolute physical and mental limits. The clock beeps time. Suddenly the box is a sea of writhing bodies, sprawled over the floor and gasping for air.
After an intense workout, pretty much all you want to do is collapse. The hard work is done and you’ve earned the right to flop down and make a sweat angel, right? Wrong. Your training does not end with the WOD. If you are serious about your results and want to make the most of your hard work, treat the cool down as seriously as your workout.
Failing to cool down is what Kelly Starrett terms an ‘adaptation error’. During a high intensity workout, lactic acid builds up in the bloodstream and muscles. You must reduce this to adapt and recover successfully. Immediately following your workout you have a window of opportunity, to increase mobility and reduce stiffness and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Skipping a gentle cool down and just laying or sitting down means your body just gets cold and stiffer, and this drives problems in mobility, mechanics and ultimately, performance.
Justin Lascek (BS in Kinesiology) does a pretty great job of explaining in layman’s terms what happens when you just stop moving following an intense workout, contained in the article Stop Flopping After a WOD.
“Think about the two minutes after finishing one of these hellacious workouts. The body constantly aims for homeostasis, but instead it’s experiencing a hurricane. CO2 levels are high, O2 levels are low, acid is rampant, blood vessels are dilating, the heart is wildly pumping, breathing muscles are on overdrive, the alveoli of the lungs are stressed due to the rapid breathing — the whole fucking body is going crazy.
And then the brain decides to just lie down. It’s cool bros, we just need to have ourselves a sit down.
Everyone reading this is aware their legs are on the bottom of their body and that their heart is near the top. You intuitively know gravity pulls straight down into the earth. This poses a problem for venous return to the heart, so natural selection developed one-way valves in the veins to prevent a back-flow of blood. Also, when skeletal muscles contract, they squeeze the veins to help push blood up and back to the heart (since the pressure from the heart is too weak to do it alone).
Imagine those legs are full of acid and CO2 and lack oxygen. If the body listens to the brain and lies down, the muscles aren’t helping to pump the acidic blood. No flow means no O2/CO2 exchange and no acid buffering.”
While you lay in a panting, sweaty mess on the floor, you’re delaying recovery. If you stop moving, your body’s ability to remove lactic acid and replenish oxygen to the muscles is diminished. You guys are taking the time to come to class and give it your all, so don’t jeopardize your results by skipping a cool down.
Swimmers and runners include cool downs in their programming. CrossFitters should too. I know you think I’m crazy when I tell you to take a walk outside as soon as the clock beeps time. There is a reason behind it. Stay on your feet, even if it means clutching at the rig or a box. When the initial shock is over, start to move slowly to promote circulation and recovery. Now it’s warm, make it a habit to walk to the fence and back in the parking lot. In the winter, walk a lap around the box.
Use this time to celebrate and reflect. Give a buddy a high five, and once you’ve caught your breath, talk about the workout. How many rounds you got, what the hardest part was, what was your strategy? We all know that the one thing better than CrossFit is talking about CrossFit, and now the hard work is done, use this calm to get to know your fellow members and learn from each other.
If you have time, row, jog or jump rope slowly. Kelly Starrett recommends cooling down for twice the time you spent in all out effort. Of course, this is not feasible for everyone, but do at least stick around for the class stretch at the end, or spend 5-10 minutes rolling out and mobilizing. You have an opportunity immediately after a workout, when your muscles are at their warmest, to prevent stiffness, increase range of motion , and help reduce the dreaded DOMS.
Post workout nutrition also plays a role in the cool down. Replenish the electrolytes and fluids you lost by getting some protein, carbohydrates and water immediately after you workout. Pack a protein shake and a banana in your gym bag and refuel.
If you are serious about your results, maximize recovery by implementing a regular cool down. So long as time permits, this will be a part of the class, so stick around for the full hour, or spend an extra few minutes after and make the most of your training.
