PE 4

• The cool-down phase gives you an opportunity for your body to recover from the demands of physical activity of your conditioning phase.
• Cool down also removes metabolic end products accumulated by the muscles during more intense activities.
• Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the soreness that is sometimes experienced 24 to 48 hours after a tough workout caused by micro tears and blood pooling.
• Microtears are tiny tears that develop within the muscle fiber. They can cause swelling of the muscle tissues which in turn puts pressure on the nerve endings and results in pain.
• Blood pooling on the other hand happens when deoxygenated blood does not return to the heart and instead stays in the muscles of our lower leg.
• Active isolation training (AIS) is one of the methods of stretching is designed to increase the range of movement of a joint.
• The basic principle behind AIS is the prevention of myotatic reflex (aka stretch reflex).
• Myotatic Stretch Reflex, is the muscle’s protective mechanism to prevent itself from tearing.
• Another key to AIS is to contract the opposing muscles to allow the target muscles to relax.