How important is it to stretch after sport? Almost all the fittest people I know never do cool downs after training and such.
In: Biology
Stretching should be done after your muscles have warmed up. Many athletes do a warm up, then stretch, then move to their main/more vigorous activity. Stretching afterwards would be a more focused stretching session for warm muscles and tendons to improve flexibility, because a longer stretching session would cool you down too much to move into a vigorous activity, so should be done after a workout if improving your flexibility is the goal.
Cool downs in general are simply not stop moving right after a sport so that your muscles don’t cramp. It can be slowing your pace, walking, or taking a shower. The important thing is to not sit and stay still directly after.
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